The Palestinian Centre for Human Rights (PCHR) condemns in the strongest terms the killing of a human rights defender by an armed Israeli settler, who unjustifiably opened fire on him while he was documenting settlers’ attacks in Hebron, south of the West Bank. The crime was accompanied by a series of grave violations committed by the Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) and settlers, including assaults on civilian residents, the arrest of several of them, the confiscation of private property, the prevention of press crews and human rights defenders from accessing the scene, and the declaration of the area as a closed military zone.

Such crimes are part of Israeli settlers’ ongoing attempts, under the IOF’s protection, to forcibly displace Palestinians from their lands in southern Hebron. This area has witnessed intensified and escalating measures by the Israeli authorities aimed at forcibly displacing the residents of Masafer Yatta, the Umm al-Khair area, and the Bedouin communities in eastern Hebron (al-Badia), through the establishment of settlement outposts and the ongoing settlers’ attacks.

Details of the crime and accompanying violations:

According to eyewitnesses’ testimonies and information collected by PCHR’s staff, at around 17:00 on Monday, 28 July 2025, armed Israeli settlers, accompanied by a crawler excavator, stormed a plot of land at the entrance to Khirbet Um al-Khair, east of Yatta, south of Hebron. The land had previously been seized by settlers under the pretext of being “state-owned land” and is located near Salem al-Hathaleen’s house, the village council building, and the community children’s center. Since February, the settlers had begun leveling and cultivating the land, placed a mobile structure on it, and installed surveillance cameras.

The settlers, accompanied by the excavator, arrived from the “Karmiel” settlement, which is built on Palestinian-owned lands, and passed through the internal road between residents’ houses before the excavator began digging in the seized land. When the residents objected out of concern that the water and electricity lines supplying the community might be damaged, a discussion took place with a settler named “Yinon Levi”, a settler leader in the southern West Bank who was previously sanctioned by the U.S. administration for his involvement in settler attacks¹. In the evening hours, the excavator left the plot of land via a sub-road that crosses private lands belonging to al-Hathaleen family. These lands are enclosed by metal fences and planted with trees. Meanwhile, Ahmed al-Hathaleen (29) tried to stop the excavator, but was hit by its bucket and fell unconscious. Later, as residents gathered, the Israeli settler Yinon Levi pointed his pistol at them and unjustifiably opened fire at them, despite there being no danger or threat to his life or the lives of the other settlers. As a result, ‘Odah Mohammed Khalil al-Hathaleen (31), a human rights defender, was shot with a live bullet in his chest while documenting the crime with his mobile phone from behind a fence approximately 42 meters away from the settler. ‘Odah was pronounced dead about three hours later.

A footage showed the settler opening fire at the residents without any justification, even though one of them was trying to push the others back to avoid direct confrontation with the settler.

In his testimony to PCHR’s researcher, Alaa al-Hathaleen, stated:

“When the Israeli settlerYinon Levi arrived at the scene, the residents started shouting at him, so he drew a pistol from his side. When I tried to film him, he attacked me and knocked my phone out of my hand. Suddenly, he fired a single shot, followed by two more, while we were trying to move the residents away from the road, and the excavator had already entered the settlement. At that moment, I heard someone screaming, “‘Odah, ‘Odah.” When I turned around, I saw the residents running toward the garden of the Umm al-Khair Community Center, so I followed them. ‘Odah was lying on the ground in the garden, bleeding severely from his chest and mouth. It turned out later that one of the bullets fired by the settler hit ‘Odah while he was filming the incident from behind the metal fence surrounding the community center’s garden, approximately 40 meters away from the settler. A number of international activists tried to provide first aid to him for a minute and a half, then we carried him and walked about 120 meters until we reached the entrance to the Karmiel settlement. There, the same settler confronted us and prevented us from entering, despite our calls for an ambulance to arrive. About four minutes later, an Israeli ambulance team arrived at the settlement’s entrance and took ‘Odah. Meanwhile, ‘Odah’s mother, Khadra, tried to get into the ambulance with her son, crying and shouting, but the settler “Yinon Levi” attacked her and beat her on the head, causing her to fall to the ground. At that moment, an Israeli patrol arrived at the scene. The soldiers attacked the residents and fired shots into the air. They then heavily fired stun grenades and teargas canisters, forcing us to retreat. Afterward, we were detained in a tent inside  Khirbet  Um al-Khair. Shortly after, another Israeli force arrived accompanied by the settler ” Yinon Levi,” who began inspecting and pointing at young men. Five young men were arrested and taken to an unknown destination. Then, the Israeli force withdrew and stationed at the settlement’s entrance. At around 20:00, the Palestinian Liaison office informed us that the Israeli authorities had informed them that ‘Odah had succumbed to his injuries at Soroka Hospital in Beersheba inside Israel.”

It is worth noting that ‘Odah al-Hathaleen was a teacher and a human right activist who documented settler violations on behalf of various human rights organizations in the Umm al-Khair and Masafer Yatta areas. He was also involved in producing the Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land”, which highlights settler violations and forced displacement in the Masafer Yatta area.

In a related escalation, within 48 hours following the killing of ‘Odah al-Hathaleen, in the early hours of Tuesday, 29 July 2025, the IOF, accompanied by the settler “Levi”, moved into Khirbet Umm al-Khair, where Levi reenacted the crime. On the same day, the IOF allowed settlers to bring in an excavator and resume leveling work under their protection. The IOF then declared KhirbetUmm al-Khair as a closed military zone, raided ‘Odah al-Hathaleen’s funeral tent, and forcibly expelled journalists, mourners, and activists using stun grenades. The Israeli authorities refused to hand over ‘Odah’s body, insisting that he not be buried in Khirbet Umm al-Khair or have a funeral tent set up for him. The family strongly rejected these conditions. As part of the same campaign against  Khirbet  Umm al-Khair, in the early hours of Wednesday, 30 July 2025, the IOF arrested eight young men from  Khirbet  Umm al-Khair, raided the village council building, and confiscated three computers—one belonging to an international activist—along with a bag containing legal documents related to the lands and detailed schemes of the community.

In a move that unfolds the complicity of the Israeli judiciary in shielding settlers, the Magistrate’s Court in Jerusalem issued a decision to release settler Yinon Levi and placed him under house arrest in the same settlement outpost where he lives, near Khirbet Zanuta, south of Hebron. The residents of Khirbet Zanuta had previously been forced to flee their homes due to repeated attacks by Levi and other settlers. This ruling amounts to a lenient punishment that fails to reflect the gravity of the crime he committed. It is worth noting that the settlement outpost where Levi was ordered to remain is known as “Havat Metarim,”. According to the court’s decision, he is to stay under house arrest there until next Friday². It should be noted that the extremist settler Yinon Levi owns an excavation company that serves settlement projects in southern West Bank. Following the U.S. sanctions imposed on him, announced by President Joe Biden’s administration in February 2024, Levi transferred ownership of the company to his two brothers.³

Khirbet Um al-Khair, which is encircled by the “Karmiel” settlement from the west and south, is home to 37 Palestinian families of 300 individuals, most of whom are children. It is also subjected to ongoing harassment by the IOF and settlers in an attempt to forcibly displace them. The most serious of these harassments was a military order issued by the IOF on 01 September 2024, under the number (T/75/24), to seize 767 square meters of the village’s land until the end of 2026. The targeted land is located in the northern neighborhood (al-Haj Shu’aib neighborhood). On 02 February 2025, Israeli settlers seized a plot of land belonging to Salem al-Hathalin and another belonging to ‘Awad family in the eastern part of Khirbet Um al-Khair. The settlers bulldozed the land, causing damage to the residents’ property. The settlers planted about 4 dunums with olive seedlings, fenced the area off, and placed a caravan and benches, claiming that the land is “state-owned land” leased from the Israeli government. They remain permanently on the land, holding loud parties at night and installing a surveillance camera about two months ago. Israeli shepherds also wander daily near residents’ homes, besieging Khirbet Um al-Khair from all sides. Khirbet Um al-Khair is similar to the southern and eastern areas of Yatta, which are surrounded by settlements and outposts, where settlers seize residents’ lands and prevent them from accessing them.

The killing of al-Hathaleen is the third crime committed by settlers or the IOF in Hebron over the past five days. On 25 July 2025, an Israeli settler, from “Havat Yehuda” settlement outpost in southern al-Dhahiriya village, opened fire on Wadee’ Mohammed ‘Othman Samamra (19), from al-Dhahiriya village, killing him near the outpost under the pretext that he attempted to carry out a stabbing attack. It is worth noting that no eyewitnesses were available for this incident, as the settlement outpost is located approximately 1,500 meters away from the nearest Palestinian community.

On 27 February 2025, the IOF stationed at the northern entrance to Hebron ( Ras al-Joura) opened fire on Mohammed Samer Suliman al-Jamal (27), from Halhul village, north of Hebron, alleging that he threw stones at Israeli soldiers.

PCHR affirms that the killings and all acts of violence and attacks committed by settlers are neither accidental nor isolated incidents, but rather reflect a systematic policy carried out under the protection of the IOF and the complicity of the Israeli judiciary, which consistently fails to issue deterrent rulings against settlers. These acts of violence are aimed at depopulating the area to facilitate illegal settlement expansion, which constitutes a war crime under international law.

The continued impunity and the troubling silence of the international community encourage the IOF and settler militias to persist in committing these crimes against Palestinian civilians, thereby entrenching the reality of colonial settlement in the occupied Palestinian territories (oPt), in blatant violation of international law, including the Rome Statute of the International Criminal Court.

PCHR recalls the International Court of Justice’s ruling issued in July 2024, which affirmed that the continued Israeli occupation of Palestinian territories, including the West Bank, Jerusalem, and the Gaza Strip, is illegal. The ruling obligated Israel to immediately end its illegal presence and cease all settlement-related violations, including the evacuation of settlers from the oPt.

Such crimes constitute yet another wake-up call for the international community, emphasizing the urgent need for immediate and effective action to halt the crimes committed by the IOF and settlers in the oPt, and to end the apartheid regime imposed by Israel on the Palestinian people.

PCHR calls for serious and effective action to hold perpetrators of war crimes accountable before international justice and to put an end to the policy of impunity. The Centre emphasizes that the ongoing international community silence amounts to indirect complicity, fosters a culture of impunity, and encourages the commission of further crimes against the Palestinian people.

1. https://www.theguardian.com/world/2024/apr/19/extremist-israeli-settlers-sanctions-eu-us?utm_source=chatgpt.com ↩︎
2. https://www.timesofisrael.com/sanctioned-settler-accused-of-killing-palestinian-activist-released-to-house-arrest/?utm_source=chatgpt.com ↩︎
3. https://x.com/dror_etkes/status/1950097551895449901?s=46 ↩︎