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Masafer Yatta, occupied West Bank – Awdah Hathaleen was held near a fence in the community center of Umm al-Kheir when he was Chest by an Israeli colonist on Monday.
The 31-year-old beloved activist and father of three fell on the ground while people rushed to try to help him. Then an ambulance left the illegal colony near Carmel and took it.
The Israeli authorities refused to release his body to bury, simply telling his family on Monday evening that he died, depriving them of the closure to throw him immediately, as Islam dictates him.
Grief
Under the burning sun of the hills in the south of Hebron, the inhabitants of Umm al-Kheir were joined by anti-occupation activists around the world-gathered in silence to cry Awdah, which was a key figure in the non-violent resistance against the violence of the settlers in Masafer Yatta.
They gathered in the same courtyard where Awdah stood when he was shot down by the Israeli colonist Yinon Levi, who said later: “I am happy to have done it”, according to witnesses.
Rocks had been placed in a circle around the blood of Awdah on the ground, mourning people stopping there as if they paid homage.
Around the circle, the ancients were sitting in silence, waiting for news that could not know whether the body of Awdah would be sent back by the Israeli army.
There is a feeling of shock that Weddah, of everyone, was that murdered in the cold, his cousin Eid Hathaleen, 41, spoke to Al Jazeera of his “really loved” parent.
“There was (nobody) who contributed as much to the Umm al-Kheir community as Weddah,” said Alaa Hathaleen, 26, the cousin and the brother-in-law of Awdah.
“I can’t believe that tomorrow I will wake up and Awdah will not be there.”
Awdah had three children – Watan, five, Muhammad, four years old and Kinan, seven months – and he loved them above everyone else, several of his friends and parents told Al Jazeera.
“He was a grandfather,” said Alaa. “Children would go to him more than their mother.”
Awdah got married in 2019, Jewish Italian activist Micol Hassan told Al Jazeera by phone. “Her wedding was a great opportunity in 2019. We organized cars that came from all over Palestine (for that).
“He loved his children so much,” she continued. “Whenever he puts them asleep, they cried and asked where their dad was.”
Hassan, who was excluded to return to the West Bank occupied by the Israeli authorities, also recalled how Awdah loved coffee and how she would bring him packs of Italian coffee each time she could arrive in Umm al-Kheir.
Awdah also loved football, playing every occasion he had, even if the installations of Umm al-Kheir are seriously degraded and that all the villagers are a paved courtyard with dilapidated goal posts.
In fact, Awdah’s latest breaths were on this same beaten football field, perhaps the only place in the village where he spent the most time.
No matter how bad the settlers’ attacks, Alaa said, Awdah sit with him and discuss their projections and hopes for his favorite team, Real Madrid Spanish.
“Her love for Real Madrid ran in his veins,” added Alaa. “Maybe if they knew how much he loved them, Real Madrid would talk about Masafer Yatta.”
Peaceful activist and “radical humanist”
Awdah has been an activist since the age of 17, working to stop Israeli attempts to expel the villagers of Masafer Yatta from their houses and their land.
He welcomed countless visiting activists who came to the occupied West Bank to support Palestinian activists and villagers, helping them understand the situation on the ground and embracing their presence with his brand hospitality.
Perhaps his most famous collaboration was his work with Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham, who did not co-realize any other field, a documentary film that won an Oscar this year.
All those who spoke to Al Jazeera remembers him as the nicest, with a courageous and peaceful heart.
He was “Tayyeb, Salim”, they said, using the Arabic words for “kind” and “peaceful”.
Awdah would tell anyone who came to Umm al-Kheir that he had not chosen to be an activist; It happened, Hassan told Al Jazeera, adding that he had welcomed everyone, regardless of faith or citizenship.
“He was a radical humanist,” she said.
“He wanted the occupation to end without suffering,” said Alaa, adding that Weddah has always thought about what the future would bring to his children and others.
He chose to become an English teacher because of this, Eid told Al Jazeera. He wanted the village children to become educated and capable of telling the world their story in English, so that they can reach more people.
“He has taught all his students to love and welcome everyone, whatever their faith and their origin,” said Eid.
A group of his students – he taught English from the first to nine years in the local school – nestled together in the courtyard of the community center among the mourning people, remembering their teacher.
“He would always try to make the lessons fun,” said Mosab, nine.
“He made us laugh,” added his classmate Mohammed, 11.
Murdered by an unleashed colonist
Umm al-Kheir is one of the more than 30 villages and hamlets in Masafer Yatta in the West Bank, a region which, more than anything, has seen the consequences of the expansion of the colonies and the violence linked to it.
The incident that led to the murder of Awdah began the day before, said activist Mattan Berner-Kadish, who had been in Umm al-Kheir, offering a protective presence to the Palestinian community.
A digger was to be delivered to the illegal colony, and the villagers had agreed to coordinate the passage of the machine with the settlers, to avoid any damage to the village infrastructure.
But the colonist leading the machinery run on a water pipe and started driving on other infrastructure, threatening to ride in the city and cause more damage.
When the villagers gathered to try to stop the machinery, the operator used the Digger claw to hit one of them on the head, dropping it on the ground, semi-conscient.
Awdah was 10 to 15 meters (30 to 50 feet) from the altercation, standing in the courtyard of the community center, watching.
In chaos, shots started ringing, and Berner-Kadish saw Yinon Levi shoot people. In the middle of the cries and panic, he realized that Weddah had been shot.
An Israeli colonist has just shot Odeh Hadalin in the lungs, a remarkable activist who helped us film any other land in Masafer Yatta. Residents have identified Yinon Levi, sanctioned by the EU and the United States, as the shooter. He’s in the video firing like crazy. pic.twitter.com/xh1uo6l1wn
– Yuval Abraham Yuval Abraham (@yuval_abraham) July 28, 2025
He tried to calm Levi, telling him that he had drew on someone directly and probably killed him. To which Levi replied: “I’m happy to have done it.”
Berner-Kadish also tried to speak to Israeli soldiers who arrived at the scene, only to hear three of them that they wanted to be them to shoot Awdah.
After the murder, the Israeli army arrested five men from the Hathaleen family. On Tuesday, the Israeli army closed the area around Umm al-Kheir, restricting any access.
Also on Tuesday, Levi was released for residential assignment by Israeli courts, which accused him of negligence.
Levi was sanctioned by Canada, the United Kingdom and the United States for violent attacks against the Palestinians.
The five Hathaleens men arrested after Awdah’s death are still in police custody, Alaa told Al Jazeera.
By crying, he worries: “What if (the Israelis) come back (awdah) and they cannot pay their last tribute to them?”
