Israeli settler kills Palestinian activist who worked on Oscar-winning film 'No Other Land'

A Palestinian activist, journalist and community leader has been shot and killed in front of a community centre in a village near Hebron, in occupied West Bank - a village which was documented in the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land. 

Local officials have said that an Israeli settler killed Awdah Hathaleen, who helped make No Other Land.

The film, a joint Palestinian-Israeli production directed by Basel Adra, Hamdan Ballal, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, chronicles the struggle by residents to stop the Israeli military from demolishing their villages in Masafer Yatta. It won Best Documentary at the Berlinale last year and at the Oscars this year.  

Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham confirmed the tragic news, with Abraham sharing a video on X showing the Israeli settler identified as Yinon Levi breandishing a handgun and shooting.  

Abraham described Awdah as “a remarkable activist who helped us film No Other Land in Masafer Yatta”, while Adra said on social media: “My dear friend Awdah was slaughtered this evening. He was standing in front of the community centre 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.” 

The Palestinian Authority’s education ministry accused Israeli settlers in the West Bank of killing Hathaleen, writing on social media that he “was shot dead by settlers... during their attack on the village of Umm al-Khair” near Hebron. 

Israel's military said an armed Israeli civilian opened fire at a group of Palestinians after they threw rocks. Israeli police responded to the incident, but no charges have been filed against Yinon Levi.  

Levi was previously sanctioned by the US and the European Union in 2024 for his violent attacks on Palestinians. The Trump administration lifted the sanctions earlier this year. Levi remains under both EU and UK sanctions. 

The Israel-Hamas war began when Hamas-led militants attacked southern Israel on 7 October 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 hostage. Fifty hostages are still being held, although fewer than half of them are believed to be alive. Israel’s subsequent offensive has resulted in the deaths of more than 60,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza Health Ministry, whose figures do not distinguish between fighters and civilians. The Israeli military says nearly 900 of its soldiers have died since the start of the war.