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Photos:
Yinon Levi, suspected of shooting a Palestinian to death, in Jerusalem's Magistrate Court on Tuesday.Credit: Yahel Gazit. Published by Haaretz

Map. Published by Haaretz

Grief Circle. Published by Haaretz
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via Twitter (X)

Yuval Abraham יובל אברהם
@yuval_abraham
After killing Odeh, Yinon pointed at his family and instructed soldiers to arrest 4 of them. They are still jailed while he was just released for house arrest. A system which punishes the victims (who are under military law) and rewards the shooter (who is under civilian law.
6:42 AM · Jul 29, 2025


Yuval Abraham יובל אברהם
@yuval_abraham
Odeh just died. Murdered.

Jul 28
An Israeli settler just shot Odeh Hadalin in the lungs, a remarkable activist who helped us film No Other Land in Masafer Yatta. Residents identified Yinon Levi, sanctioned by the EU and US, as the shooter. >a href="https://x.com/yuval_abraham/status/1949893908093423954">This is him in the video firing like crazy.
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Breaking the Silence
@BtSIsrael

Awdah, a friend, a peace activist, and a teacher, was shot yesterday.
Violent settler Yinnon Levi, who was filmed shooting at Palestinians, has just been released to house arrest. Why? Because in the oPt, settlers are above the law. In fact, they are the law
Justice for Awdah
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Israeli Court Releases Settler Suspected of Fatally Shooting Palestinian in West Bank to House Arrest

The suspect, Yinon Levi, who the United States has sanctioned, was documented shooting at Palestinians while settlers were raiding their village. He is suspected of reckless manslaughter and use of a firearm. Awdah Hathaleen, a Palestinian activist in Masafer Yatta, was killed during the incident

by Hagar Shezaf and Yael Freidson for Haaretz
Jul 29, 2025 4:47 pm IDT

An Israeli court released an Israeli settler who is suspected of fatally shooting a Palestinian man in a West Bank village to house arrest, as the Israeli police are investigating him for reckless manslaughter and use of a firearm.

Yinon Levi, who was sanctioned by several countries, including the United States, last year due to his involvement in the expulsion and violence against Palestinians, is facing a remand hearing on Tuesday afternoon at the Jerusalem Magistrate's Court. Ahead of the hearing, police unusually permitted Levy to meet with members of his family in the courthouse yard.

Levi was documented firing his handgun in the village of Umm al-Kheir in the southern West Bank, as a group of settlers, who were working on state lands near the adjacent settlement of Carmel, began entering the village.

The judge wrote in her decision to release Levi to house arrest that "the main reason for detention at this stage is dangerousness," but noted that "the risk may be mitigated through restrictive conditions."

An eyewitness reported that the entry of Israeli settlers into Palestinian private lands, riding an excavator, caused a commotion, and the vehicle subsequently struck activist and resident Ahmad Hathaleen. "People lost their minds, and the children threw stones," he said.

Subsequently, Awdah Hathaleen, a political activist against the expulsion of Palestinian villages in Masafer Yatta, was shot in front of the camera, and later his death was confirmed. Awdah, who contributed to the filming of the Israeli-Palestinian documentary "No Other Land," was one of two Palestinian activists who were refused entry into the United States to speak to progressive Jewish synagogues and organizations in June.

Police forces arrived at the hospital where Hathaleen was taken before his death was pronounced, and later stated that his body would undergo an autopsy.

Officials confirmed on Tuesday that the Israeli military is not allowing Hathaleen to be buried in Umm al-Kheir, following a decision made during a situational assessment. He will likely only be permitted to be buried in Yatta. MK Ofer Cassif (Hadash–Ta'al) contacted the Civil Administration, a military agency that has broad powers in the West Bank, in an attempt to reverse the decision.

Hathaleenn, 31 at the time of his death, was a father of three and an English teacher at the village school. He was a well-known activist and one of the primary local contacts for Palestinian, Israeli, and international activists in Umm al-Kheir.

After news of his death spread, many mourned him on social media, and on Tuesday morning, some of them filled the mourning tent erected at the community center he helped establish in the village. Basel al-Adra, his close friend and the director of the film No Other Land, said, "I can hardly believe it. My dear friend Awdah was slaughtered this evening. He was standing in front of the community center in his village when a settler fired a bullet that pierced his chest and took his life. This is how Israel erases us – one life at a time."

Meanwhile, the Israeli military declared the mourning tent in Umm al-Kheir a closed military zone and forcibly removed journalists, activists, and Palestinians who are not residents of the village. At first, they were pushed toward a nearby junction, but soldiers then threw stun grenades at them, cursed them, and drove them even farther away.

Four Palestinians arrested during the incident are suspected of assault, stone-throwing and property damage, and are expected to be brought before a military court on Thursday. Two foreign activists arrested at the scene are suspected of disturbing the peace and obstruction, and are being processed for deportation.

At Levi's remand hearing, a police representative told the court that Levi and a minor were attacked by assailants who threw stones at them, and that "it appears their lives were in danger." According to the representative, the two foreign activists who were arrested "tried to dismantle cameras documenting the incident."

MK Limor Son Har-Melech, who came to the hearing, said: "I came here today to support Yinon Levi – the pioneer – who is protecting our national land for all of us."

According to village residents, Levi and several other settlers began to enter their lands, and the locals attempted to block them, throwing stones in the process. The attack on the Palestinians was recorded on video, in which Levi can be seen firing his handgun, and another settler hitting one of the Palestinians with the excavator.

Tynan Kavanaugh, an American medical student working with Palestinian public health organizations who was at the scene, told Haaretz that he treated Ahmad, who was hit in the head by the excavator, and estimated that he lost consciousness for about a minute and was confused and disoriented for the rest of the time.

"At that point, there was shooting, so we ducked and realized someone had been shot," Kavanaugh said. "[Awdah] was injured in the chest, and we had limited medical equipment for the injury. At some point, he lost his pulse, and we performed five rounds of resuscitation." He added that later, an Israeli ambulance arrived and treated Awdah.

"I went back to Ahmad, and after a few moments, the police arrived and yelled at me to leave," he said, adding that Palestinians were then arrested, after one of the settlers pointed them out to the police.

Last year, several countries, including the United States, Canada, and the United Kingdom, imposed sanctions on Levi, a resident of the Havat Meitarim outpost in the south Hebron Hills, due to his efforts to expel the village of Zanuta in the area, among other reasons.

The American statement alleged that he led a group of settlers who engaged in actions that created an atmosphere of fear in the West Bank. "Levi consistently leads a group of settlers who attack Palestinians, set fire to their fields, destroy their property, and threaten them with further harm if they do not leave their homes," the State Department in Washington wrote.
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From wikipedia entry for Khirbet Zanuta:

"Zanuta's woes began shortly after Yinon Levy set up his outpost Havata Meitarim(Meitarim Farm). The residents of the outpost then began to wrest control of most of the village's grazing lands and cisterns, while assaulting shepherds, uprooting trees and running over sheep with all-terrain vehicles.[6] On 17 November 2023, just over a month after the outbreak of the Gaza war, in the wake of 10 serious attacks on the village, Zanuta's entire population of 35 families fled the village fearing for their children's lives and their flocks.[6] In December 2023, it was reported that ten homes and a school had been demolished in Khirbet Zanuta, with stars of David spray painted on the remains of the school, which had been constructed using European Union funds. The destruction was described by EU representatives as a violation of international humanitarian law.[26] The demolitions followed prolonged threats from armed Israeli settlers who reside in nearby illegal settlements.[27]

In 2024, the governments of the United States and the United Kingdom sanctioned Israeli settler Yinon Levy, who set up residence near Zanuta, for violence against Palestinians. The New York Times has described the illegal settlement Levi constructed in 2021 and now owns, Meitarim Farm, as 'a base of operations for settler attacks',[28] Levy denied the charge.[29][30] Levy responded that he wanted to make sure that the lands in the area "remain under Jewish ownership … When there is a Jewish presence, then there is no Arab presence. […] when the bad people are against you, you must be doing something right."[29] BBC News reported in March 2024 that Zanuta is "deserted", with Israeli settlers here claiming to be "scared" due to "attacks by Palestinians", however BBC notes that "it's Palestinians who are leaving" the area.[29] NPR similarly reported that month that Zanuta was "abandoned" by the Palestinians despite previously having a population of 250.[30] Breaking the Silence deputy director Nadav Weiman, an Israeli special forces veteran, accused the bulldozer-owning Yinon Levy / Yinon Levi of being the sole culprit behind the emptying of Zanuta, with Weiman referring to Zanuta's bulldozed school: "Why demolish the school? ... Because you want families to feel they are not safe here. With no school, the kids cannot return. And if you don't have kids, you don't have life."[29][30] The UK in October 2024 characterized the Meitarim outpost as one of several which were “involved in facilitating, inciting, promoting or providing support for activity that amounts to a serious abuse of the right of Palestinians not to be subjected to cruel, inhuman or degrading treatment or punishment.”[31]

The villagers petitioned the Israeli High Court of Justice which, in July 2024, ruled that the state must allow the villagers to return and protect both them and their property.[32] In response, the state requested a delay in the implementation of the court's decision and, in the meantime, 90% of what remained of the village was torn down, including the last remaining 40 olive trees. The military Civil Administration has refused them permission to spread tent covers over the ruins to allow some protection from the sun.[6] Some animals remained in their pens after the devastation, with their owners sheltering in the ruins. In early September 2024, the Israeli Civil Administration arrived and confiscated the fencing used for the pens.[6]

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