Palestinians bury activist shot dead by Israeli West Bank settler - War on Gaza

Al-Ahram Weekly

2 days ago

Mourners attended on Thursday the funeral of Palestinian activist Awdah Hathaleen in the occupied West Bank whose body was handed over by Israel more than a week after a settler killed him.
"He was killed by a hateful settler, his body was held for 11 days, and more than 20 people from the village were arrested" following the late July incident in the southern West Bank, said the slain activist's brother, Aziz Hathaleen.
The settler accused of the fatal shooting "was released at that very moment", Aziz told AFP in the family's hometown of Umm al-Khair, where Palestinians gathered to bury his brother's body despite Israeli restrictions.
Awdah Hathaleen, 31, was linked to Oscar-winning documentary film "No Other Land", which focuses on the efforts of Palestinians in Masafer Yatta -- a string of hamlets including Umm al-Khair -- to prevent Israeli forces from destroying their homes.
He was killed on July 28, with residents identifying the man holding the gun in a video of the incident as Yinon Levy, a settler sanctioned by Britain, who was briefly detained but released the next day.
Umm al-Khair resident Ibrahim Hathaleen told AFP that "we were prevented from receiving the martyr's body" for days after his death, and Aziz said Israel had given the family several conditions to allow the funeral.
The activist's brother argued that the Israeli moves were meant to prevent a large gathering that would draw attention to his work opposing Israeli settlement in Masafer Yatta.
"The first condition was that he not be buried in the area at all, and the second was that no mourning tent be set up", said Ibrahim, who is also related to Awdah Hathaleen.
An AFP journalist in Umm al-Khair said the Israeli army had set up checkpoints around the village and prevented some Palestinians and foreign activists from reaching the funeral site.
About 100 mourners still managed to attend the funeral, many of them in tears, kissing Awdah's body before joining prayers at a local mosque, the AFP journalist reported.
Masafer Yatta, where he lived, is an area on the hills south of the Palestinian city of Hebron which has been declared a military zone by Israel.
The fight of the area's Palestinian residents against Israeli settlement expansion and violence from troops and settlers was the subject of "No Other Land", which won Best Documentary at the Oscars in March.
Shortly after Hathaleen's killing, the film's co-director Yuval Abraham posted a video of the incident on Instagram showing a man -- identified as Levy -- brandishing a gun and arguing with a group of people.
Violence in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, has surged throughout the Gaza war that began in October 2023.
At least 968 Palestinians, including militants but also civilians, have been killed by Israeli soldiers or settlers since the Gaza war broke out.
At least 36 Israelis, including civilians and soldiers, have been killed there in Palestinian attacks or during Israeli military operations over the same period, according to official Israeli data.
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