Mourners attended the funeral of Palestinian activist Awdah Hathaleen within the southern West Financial institution on Thursday after his physique was returned by Israel greater than every week after a settler allegedly shot him.
The settler, Yinon Levi, was arrested on suspicion of reckless manslaughter, however was released final week.
The burial occurred within the village of Umm al-Khair beneath restrictions imposed by the Israel Protection Forces, with one space resident telling The Occasions of Israel that troops blocked him from collaborating as a result of he was not a resident of the village.
The army didn’t touch upon the burial or on the return of Hathaleen’s physique, which adopted a days-long hunger strike by the ladies of Umm al-Khair and a petition to the Excessive Courtroom by Hathaleen’s associates and supporters. A listening to on the petition was scheduled for Thursday and was canceled.
“He was killed by a hateful settler, his physique was held for 11 days, and greater than 20 folks from the village have been arrested,” following the late July capturing, stated the slain activist’s brother, Aziz Hathaleen, including that the accused settler “was launched at that very second.”
Umm al-Khair resident Ibrahim Hathaleen informed AFP that “we have been prevented from receiving the martyr’s physique” for days after his loss of life, and Aziz stated Israel had positioned a number of situations to permit the funeral.
Palestinians attend the funeral of 31-year-old Awdah Hathaleen, within the village of Umm al-Khair, within the Masafer Yatta space south of Hebron within the West Financial institution on August 7, 2025. (Mosab Shawer / AFP)
The activist’s brother argued that the strikes have been meant to stop a big gathering that might draw consideration to his work opposing Israeli settlement in Masafer Yatta.
“The primary situation was that he not be buried within the space in any respect, and the second was that no mourning tent be arrange,” stated Ibrahim, who can be associated to Awdah Hathaleen.
An AFP journalist in Umm al-Khair stated the IDF had arrange checkpoints across the village and prevented some Palestinians and international activists from reaching the funeral website.
About 100 mourners nonetheless managed to attend the funeral, a lot of them in tears, kissing Awdah’s physique earlier than becoming a member of prayers at a neighborhood mosque, the AFP journalist reported.
An Israeli settler simply shot Odeh Hadalin within the lungs, a outstanding activist who helped us movie No Different Land in Masafer Yatta. Residents recognized Yinon Levi, sanctioned by the EU and US, because the shooter. That is him within the video firing like loopy. pic.twitter.com/xH1Uo6L1wN
— Yuval Abraham יובל אברהם (@yuval_abraham) July 28, 2025
Awdah Hathaleen, 31, labored on the Oscar-winning documentary movie “No Different Land,” which focuses on the efforts of Palestinians in Masafer Yatta — a string of hamlets together with Umm al-Khair — to stop Israeli forces from destroying their properties.
Hathaleen was killed on July 28 as Palestinians confronted armed Israeli settlers allegedly finishing up earthworks on land claimed by the village.
A part of the conflict was caught on video. Levi, who has confronted worldwide sanctions focusing on extremist settlers, may very well be seen within the video brandishing a gun. He was detained after the capturing however launched to accommodate arrest the following day, with the court docket later refusing the police’s request to increase his home arrest.
In the meantime, Israeli forces arrested a number of members of Hathaleen’s household, and may be seen in a video final month clearing out a mourning tent for Hathaleen after declaring the realm a closed army zone.
Watch: Israeli solders raid the mourning tent for Awdah Hathaleen in Umm Al Khair, forcing all of the friends out, together with journalists pic.twitter.com/9XHPnylv2R
— Oren Ziv (@OrenZiv_) July 29, 2025
Violence within the West Financial institution has spiked because the Hamas onslaught of October 7, 2023, which sparked the warfare in Gaza.
In line with the Palestinian Authority well being ministry, greater than 950 West Financial institution Palestinians have been killed in that point. The IDF says the overwhelming majority of them have been gunmen killed in exchanges of fireplace, rioters who clashed with troops, or terrorists finishing up assaults.
The army says troops have arrested some 6,000 wished Palestinians throughout the West Financial institution, together with greater than 2,350 affiliated with Hamas, because the October 7 onslaught.
Throughout the identical interval, 53 folks, together with Israeli safety personnel, have been killed in terror assaults in Israel and the West Financial institution. One other eight members of the safety forces have been killed in clashes with terror operatives within the West Financial institution.
