Dozens attend funeral of Palestinian shot dead by Israeli settler after IDF releases body

Protesters call for the release of Awdah Hathaleen’s body in Tel Aviv on 3 August 2025

Hagar Shezaf reports in Haaretz on 7 August 2025:

Around two hundred people gathered on Thursday in the West Bank village of Umm al-Kheir for the funeral of Palestinian activist Awdah Hathaleen, who was shot and killed by an Israeli settler last week.

Despite agreements between Israeli authorities and Hathaleen’s family, the army on Thursday morning barred non-residents from entering or leaving the village and set up checkpoints in the surrounding area.-

Earlier Thursday, the IDF released his body after having held it since his death, refusing to release it unless the family agreed to restrictions on the burial ceremony.

The military initially demanded that no mourning tent be erected near the family home, that Hathaleen be buried in Yatta, and that funeral attendance be limited to just 15 people.

The army eventually lifted the attendance cap but maintained its ban on holding the funeral in Umm al-Kheir. The police also refused to approve the revised terms.  In response, more than 70 women from the village launched a hunger strike, and the family filed a petition with the High Court.

A High Court hearing on a petition filed by Hathaleen’s family against the withholding of his body had been scheduled for the same day, but ahead of the hearing, the parties reached an agreement on the terms of his burial.

As part of the arrangement, the army dropped its demand that Hathaleen be buried in the nearby city of Yatta and agreed to allow the funeral to take place later on Thursday within a designated area inside the village. In return, the family agreed to limit attendance to 100 people during the preliminary part of the funeral, but the burial itself will not be subject to any attendance restrictions.

Hathaleen was shot and killed last week after settlers, including shooting suspect Yinon Levi, were operating a bulldozer on state lands near the settlement of Carmel. After finishing their work, they moved the equipment onto private Palestinian lands belonging to village residents, who tried to block their passage. One resident was injured by the bulldozer, and several villagers gathered and threw stones at it. Levi was then recorded shooting in their direction.

On Friday, Levi was released from house arrest. His release came after the Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court rejected the police’s request to extend his detention. Judge Chavi Toker said during the hearing that the suspicions against Levi had weakened, and evidence collected from the Palestinian side supported his lawyer’s claims that there was no causal link between the shooting and the victim’s death, and that Levi acted in self-defense.

The judge noted in her ruling that Levi “prevented an incident involving dozens of [Palestinians] who were throwing stones” at him. During the hearing, Israel Police representative Chief Inspector Yosef Moyal said that the victim’s body showed entry and exit wounds from the bullet that caused his death, but admitted that the bullet itself was not found.

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