Video appears to show moment Palestinian activist was killed in West Bank as Israeli settler fires gun

CBC

a day ago

WARNING: This story contains a video appearing to show a shooting.
New video footage appears to show the moment a Palestinian activist was killed as an Israeli settler fired toward him during a confrontation with unarmed Palestinians in the occupied West Bank last month.
B'Tselem, an Israeli human rights group, says it obtained the video from the family of Awdah Hathaleen, 31, an activist, English teacher and father of three who was shot and killed on July 28, and who they said had filmed it.
The video released by B'Tselem on Sunday shows Israeli settler Yinon Levi firing a gun toward the person filming. The footage cuts, but the camera keeps rolling as the person moans in pain.
Levi, who is shown firing his gun twice in a video shot by another witness and verified by CBC News, was briefly detained and then released from house arrest by an Israeli court, which cited lack of evidence.
The shooting occurred in Umm al-Khair, a village that has long weathered settler violence in an area profiled in the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land, which Hathaleen had helped produce.
Settler attacks on Palestinians have spiked since the outbreak of the current Israel-Hamas war in October 2023, as have attacks by Palestinian militants.
"Awdah's killing is another horrific example of how Palestinians, both in Gaza and in the West Bank, are currently living without any sort of protection, fully exposed to Israeli violence, while Israeli soldiers or settlers can kill them in broad daylight and enjoy full impunity while the world watches," said Sarit Michaeli, the international outreach director for B'Tselem.
Levi was one of four Israeli settlers sanctioned by the Canadian government last year for violence against Palestinian civilians and their property.
Both videos appear to show the same confrontation between Levi and a group of Palestinians. The earlier video shows him firing two shots from a pistol but doesn't show where the bullets struck. Several witnesses had told The Associated Press they saw Levi shoot Hathaleen.
Avichai Hajbi, a lawyer representing Levi, told the AP that Levi acted in self-defence — without specifying what his actions were. Hajbi pointed to a court's decision earlier this month that released Levi from house arrest, citing insufficient evidence. The judge said Levi did not pose a danger justifying continued house arrest, but he barred him from contact with the villagers for a month.
Israeli police didn't immediately respond to a request for comment about whether they'd seen the videos.
B'Tselem said Levi was with a crew that brought an excavator from a nearby settlement into Umm al-Khair. Residents, fearing it would cut the village's main water line, gathered on a dirt road to try to block its path, and at least one individual threw a stone at the vehicle's front window.
Levi then confronted the crowd while waving a handgun.
The new video shows Levi arguing heatedly with three men before firing the gun in the direction of the person filming. Hathaleen was standing at the village community centre about 40 metres from the confrontation, B'Tselem said.
The bullet hit him in the chest and he collapsed on the spot, it said.
Eitan Peleg, a lawyer for Hathaleen's family, said they told him Hathaleen had shot the footage on his phone. He said the police asked him for the video, which they hadn't seen. Peleg said he's urging the district court to investigate Levi for more serious crimes.
Levi helped establish a settler outpost near Umm al-Khair that anti-settlement activists say is a bastion for violent settlers who have displaced hundreds since the start of the war. Palestinians and rights groups have long accused Israeli authorities of turning a blind eye to settler violence.
In a 2024 interview, Levi told the AP that he was protecting his own land and denied using violence.
After Hathaleen's killing, Israel's army initially refused to return his body for burial unless conditions were met for the funeral, including limiting the number of people and the location. After an agreement was made with the police about a week later, Hathaleen's body was returned and buried.
In addition to his work on the Oscar-winning documentary, Hathaleen had written and spoken out against settler violence. Supporters have erected murals in his honour in Rome, held vigils in New York and have held signs bearing his name at anti-war protests in Tel Aviv.