Israeli settler kills Palestinian activist who worked on Oscar-winning film

CNN

3 days ago

A prominent Palestinian activist who had worked on an Oscar-winning documentary died on Monday after being shot by a Jewish settler in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, according to local journalists and officials.
Odeh Hathalin, who was a consultant on 'No Other Land,' a film that documents Israeli settler and military attacks on the West Bank community of Masafer Yatta, was shot in the village of Umm al-Khair, in that same community.
Israeli police said its forces arrived at the scene and detained an Israeli civilian, who was later arrested for questioning. Police did not identify the man they arrested. The Israeli military claimed that 'terrorists hurled rocks toward Israeli civilians near Carmel,' an Israeli settlement near Umm al-Khair.
Hathalin's shooting was first reported by Yuval Abraham, the Israeli investigative journalist who co-directed 'No Other Land.' Abraham said Hathalin was 'shot in the upper body' and was in critical condition. Later, the Palestinian health ministry said he had died of his injuries.
Many settlers are armed, and violence in the West Bank has surged since the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023. At least 964 Palestinians have been killed since then by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, according to the United Nations.
Settlers have a strong influence on Israeli politics, and in the rare cases where they are arrested for violent attacks against Palestinians, they are often released without charge.
Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank are illegal under international law.
Ofer Cassif, a left-wing member of Israel's parliament, has demanded that authorities launch an investigation into Hathalin's death.
'The incident occurred in broad daylight, in front of cameras, with no fear of legal consequences – testament to the paralysis of law enforcement and the complete sense of immunity enjoyed by violent settlers,' Cassif wrote in a letter to Israel's Attorney General.
Basel Adra, a Palestinian journalist and a co-director of 'No Other Land,' shared testimony to his 'dear friend' Hathalin.
'He was standing in front of the community settler 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,' Adra wrote in a post on Instagram.
Last month, Hathalin was detained at San Francisco International Airport upon arrival and deported after immigration officials revoked his visa, local media reported. He had been invited to visit a California synagogue as part of an interfaith speaking tour.
CNN reported in March that settlers had also targeted Hamdan Ballal, another co-director of 'No Other Land,' outside his home in the village of Susya, also in Masser Yatta. Ballal, who had recently returned from Los Angeles to accept an Oscar for the film, told CNN he thought the group of settlers would kill him. He was detained by Israeli soldiers, handcuffed, blindfolded and beaten.
The film 'No Other Land,' which tracked the destruction of the Masser Yatta community between 2019 and 2023, won Best Documentary Feature Film at the 2024 Oscars. Its final scene shows Adra's cousin, Zakara al-Adra, being shot by an Israeli settler in October 2023.
Previous reporting from CNN's Kara Fox, Kareem Khadder and Jeremy Diamond.