Israeli settler kills Palestinian teacher and activist linked to Oscar-Winning film in West Bank
Hadalin was an activist from Masafer Yatta, a collection of hamlets located on the hills south of Hebron, which have been declared a military zone by Israel.
Hadalin and other activists' efforts to prevent Israeli forces and settlers from destroying their homes was the subject of the 2024 documentary No Other Land, which won Best Documentary at the Oscars in March.
He was a teaching staff member at al-Saray'a Secondary School in Masafer Yatta, and was a father of three children, the eldest of whom is 6 years old.
The 31-year-old 'was shot dead by settlers… during their attack on the village of Umm al-Khair' near Hebron, the Palestinian Authority's Ministry of Education wrote on social media late on Monday.
No Other Land co-director Yuval Abraham confirmed the news in a post online, stating: 'An Israeli settler just shot Odeh Hadalin in the lungs.'
Abraham described Hadalin as 'a remarkable activist who helped us film No Other Land'.
Palestinian journalist and activist Mohammad Hesham Huraini said that Hadalin 'has now been made martyr by the hands of a violent settler.'
The attacker was identified by Israeli and Palestinian journalists as Yinon Levi, an extremist settler formerly sanctioned by the US under the Biden administration, and still sanctioned by Canada, the UK, and the European Union.
In video footage from the scene of the confrontation, Levi can be seen holding a handgun and firing into the air. A bulldozer is visible in the frame behind him.
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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. This is him in the video firing like crazy.
pic.twitter.com/xH1Uo6L1wN
— Yuval Abraham יובל אברהם (@yuval_abraham)
July 28, 2025
Huraini said that shortly after the fatal shooting, another man tried to block the bulldozer before Levi 'ran him over' and injured him.
He added that several Palestinians were then taken by Israeli police 'under false arrest charges'.
In a statement, Israeli police said they were investigating the incident, and that an Israeli citizen involved in the shooting had been detained at the scene and later arrested.
The police did not identify the detained Israeli, although Haaretz reported that it was Levi.
Four Palestinians were also detained by the Israel Defense Forces, as well as two foreign tourists, police said.
Israeli news site Ynet reported that Levi was in the area carrying out construction on a new neighborhood in Carmel, and in Levi's account of the incident, he alleged that dozens of rioters from nearby Umm al-Khair threw stones at him and several other Israelis.
He claimed that he opened fire on the Palestinians because he felt his life was in danger, Ynet reported.
These circumstances were disputed by locals, Palestinian news sources and Haaretz, which reported that Levi's bulldozer had encroached on privately owned land of Umm al-Khair.
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