Israeli settler Yinon Levi charged with reckless manslaughter in killing of Palestinian activist Awdah Hathaleen, the first such indictment since Oct. 7, 2023.
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Israeli prosecutors charged an Israeli settler, Yinon Levi, with reckless manslaughter in the death of Palestinian activist Awdah Hathaleen. The indictment, filed Thursday in the Southern District, is the first of its kind since the Oct. 7, 2023 attack that sparked the Gaza war, said Israeli rights group B'Tselem.
The Justice Ministry said Levi, 33, from Ma'on, was accused of firing toward a crowd during a confrontation over earthworks on private land, causing Hathaleen's death. The charges include reckless manslaughter, which carries a maximum sentence of 12 years, armed trespassing and willful property damage.
Levi said he would fight the charges, writing in a letter shared with The Associated Press that prosecutors should not penalize acts of self-defense. He accused them of providing "de facto support for terrorism."
Hathaleen, 31, was killed in July 2025 during a settler attack on his village of Umm al-Khair in the southern West Bank. He was an activist, English teacher and father of three who took part in the production of the Oscar-winning documentary "No Other Land." The film, which won Best Documentary in March, documents the struggle of Palestinian communities in Masafer Yatta, a string of hamlets Israel declared a military zone.
A video obtained by the AP shows Levi firing his gun twice. He was briefly detained and released from house arrest earlier, with a court citing lack of evidence. Palestinian rights group Al-Haq conducted a forensic investigation using footage that shows Levi shooting at a crowd the day Hathaleen was killed.
B'Tselem spokesman Yair Dvir called the indictment "the exception that proves the rule," accusing Israel of fostering a culture of impunity that "is not a failure of the system -- it is a central component." Hathaleen's attorney, Eitan Peleg, told AFP the indictment was "a very important decision" and hoped it would set a precedent for future cases of Israelis committing crimes against Palestinians.
"Many Palestinians are killed by settlers, by the army, this was the first time a full investigation was held and they had no other option but to charge," Peleg said. "This was a very clear case."
The US and EU placed sanctions on Levi in April 2024 for previous violent attacks on Palestinians. Excluding Israeli-annexed East Jerusalem, about 500,000 Israeli settlers live in the West Bank among roughly three million Palestinians. All settlements in the West Bank, which Israel has occupied since 1967, are illegal under international law.
Since Oct. 7, 2023, Israeli settlers and soldiers have killed at least 1,100 Palestinians in the West Bank, according to B'Tselem.
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