Israeli settler kills Palestinian teacher who helped make Oscar-winning film

Prominent Palestinian activist and teacher Odeh Muhammad Hadalin was fatally shot by an Israeli settler on Monday in Umm al-Khair village, part of the Masafer Yatta region in the occupied West Bank, local officials said.

The Palestinian Authority’s ministry of education confirmed that he was “shot dead by settlers” during an “attack on the village of Umm al-Khair”.

Hadalin, 31, known widely for his advocacy against the displacement of Palestinians in Masafer Yatta, played a key role in supporting the production of No Other Land, the Oscar-winning documentary that captured the impact of Israeli military and settler violence on his community.

Filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Basel Adra, who co-directed the documentary, also confirmed Hadalin’s killing. “My dear friend Awdah was slaughtered this evening,” Mr Adra posted on X.

Odeh Muhammad Hadalin’s name was sometimes spelt as Awdah Muhammad Hathaleen.

“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,” Mr Adra added. “This is how Israel erases us — one life at a time.”

Mr Abraham called Hadalin “a remarkable activist who helped us film No Other Land in Masafer Yatta”. He shared a video of the incident, adding that local “residents identified Yinon Levi, sanctioned by the EU and US, as the shooter”.

The Independent could not verify the claim.

The Times of Israel, citing local Hebrew media, reported that one of the Israelis involved in the clash was Yinon Levi. The outlet called him “an extremist settler” who was sanctioned by the US administration of Joe Biden, a measure revoked by Donald Trump’s government.

Israeli police said they were investigating an “incident near Carmel”, a settlement adjacent to the village of Umm al-Khair that Palestinians call Al-Karmil.

In June, Israeli soldiers blocked journalists from travelling to the West Bank villages featured in No Other Land during a trip organised by Mr Abraham and Mr Adra, meant to show growing settler violence.

Palestinian Authority and witnesses said that Hadalin was standing near a community centre when the settler opened fire.

Hadalin sustained critical injuries to his upper body during the incident and later died at the Soroka Hospital in Beersheba.

Four Palestinians and two foreigners present during the incident were detained, Al Jazeera reported. Another Palestinian man sustained injuries after he was reportedly assaulted by a settler and taken to a local hospital.

According to the news site Ynet, Levi was carrying out construction work for a new neighbourhood in Al-Karmil when, by his account, dozens of people from Umm al-Khair began throwing stones at him and several other Israelis.

Umm al-Khair lies within Masafer Yatta, a cluster of hamlets south of Hebron that Israel designated as a military training zone decades ago. Residents have since faced repeated demolitions and evictions.

The ongoing legal battle to protect their homes formed the backdrop of No Other Land, which resonated globally for its documentation of the community’s resilience.

Hadalin’s killing coincides with growing settler violence in the West Bank. Israeli human rights group B’Tselem this week accused Israel of perpetrating genocide in Gaza and the West Bank.

In its report, the group documented a sharp increase in settler attacks, ranging from arson and theft to armed assault, often carried out with what they described as state complicity.

Since October 2023, when Israel launched a devastating war on Gaza, over 1,000 Palestinians have been killed in the West Bank by Israeli soldiers and settlers, according to local health authorities.