Israel Charges Settler Yinon Levy in 2025 West Bank Killing of Oscar Film Activist
Updated
Updated · BBC.com · Aug 6
Israel Charges Settler Yinon Levy in 2025 West Bank Killing of Oscar Film Activist
3 articles · Updated · BBC.com · Aug 6
Summary
Yinon Levy was charged with reckless manslaughter over the July 2025 shooting of Odeh Hathaleen, a Palestinian activist who helped film the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land.
Prosecutors said Levy fired toward residents during a confrontation in Umm al-Khair after settlers brought an excavator into the village; he also faces armed trespassing and malicious property damage charges.
B'Tselem called it the first indictment of an Israeli for killing a Palestinian in the West Bank in nearly three years, while Hathaleen's family welcomed the move but said a murder charge was warranted.
Levy said he would fight the case as self-defence, and his lawyer called the prosecution a mistake; footage of the incident circulated widely online and Levy had previously denied firing the fatal shot.
The case lands amid a broader surge in West Bank violence since Oct. 7, 2023: the UN says 1,110 Palestinians and 41 Israelis have been killed there, and Levy had already faced UK and earlier US sanctions.