Charges in fatal West Bank clash

An Israeli settler faces rare prosecution in a Palestinian activist’s killing last year.

- SAM METTZ

MOURNERS carry Awdah Hathaleen's body in August in the West Bank. He was known for his work on the Oscar-winning documentary "No Other Land."

(TAMIR KALIFA Getty Images)

Israeli prosecutors said Monday that they plan to charge a settler in the killing of a Palestinian activist during a confrontation that was caught on video, opening a rare prosecution of violence by Jewish settlers in the occupied West Bank.

Attacks from settlers and home demolitions by authorities have surged dramatically over the last two years, but the death in July of Awdah Hathaleen has drawn particular attention because of his involvement in the 2025 Oscar-winning film “No Other Land,” which chronicled Palestinian villagers’ fight to stay on their land. The case also stands out because the confrontation between Palestinians and Yinon Levi, an internationally sanctioned settler, was captured on video from multiple vantage points.

In a video that family members say was taken by Hathaleen, Levi could be seen firing toward the person holding the camera. Another showed Levi firing two shots without showing where the bullets struck.

An Israeli judge released Levi from custody six months ago, citing a lack of evidence that he fired the shots that killed Hathaleen.

Israel's state attorney general's office confirmed in a statement Monday that it had initiated proceedings to indict Levi. It did not specify the charges.

Eitan Peleg, an attorney for Hathaleen’s family, said the office had informed them it planned to indict Levi for reckless homicide, triggering a process that allows Levi to contest charges before they’re formally filed.

“Enforcement of the law in cases like this involving Palestinians in the West Bank is very rare, so this is unique,” Peleg said.

Israel’s military referred questions on the indictment to police, who have not yet responded. Both enforce laws in the area.