Greater than 60 Palestinian ladies are staging a starvation strike to demand the discharge of the physique of Palestinian activist and English instructor Awdah Hathaleen, who was shot lifeless final week within the village of Umm al-Kheir, south of Hebron within the occupied West Financial institution.
Two ladies have obtained medical remedy because of the collective motion, which began on Thursday.
The group is demanding the unconditional launch of the physique of the 31-year-old neighborhood chief who co-directed No Other Land, a documentary movie that received an Oscar award this 12 months. Israeli police set a number of circumstances, together with holding a fast and quiet burial at night time outdoors the village, with not more than 15 folks in attendance.
The protesters are additionally demanding the discharge of seven Umm al-Kheir residents arrested by Israeli forces who stay in administrative detention – a quasi-judicial course of underneath which Palestinians are held with out cost or trial.
Umm al-Kheir is a part of Masafer Yatta, a string of Palestinian hamlets situated on the hills south of Hebron, the place residents have fought for many years to stay of their properties after Israel declared the world an Israeli army “firing” or coaching zone.
Iman Hathaleen, Awdah’s cousin, mentioned ladies aged 13 to 70 had been collaborating within the starvation strike. “Now, as I’m speaking, I’m ravenous and I’m breastfeeding,” she advised Al Jazeera. “We are going to proceed this till they launch the physique, in order that we are able to honour him with the precise Islamic custom. We now have to grieve him as our faith advised us to.”
Awdah was taken by an ambulance to Soroka hospital in Beer Sheva on July 28, the place he was pronounced lifeless after having been shot by an Israeli settler. The police transferred his physique to the Abu Kabir Nationwide Institute of Forensic Drugs in Jaffa for an post-mortem, which was accomplished on Wednesday. They then refused to return the physique until the household agreed to restrictive circumstances on the funeral and burial.
‘A tactic to interrupt their spirit’
Fathi Nimer, a researcher on the Al-Shabaka assume tank, mentioned Israel’s coverage of withholding the physique of a Palestinian was frequent apply. “This isn’t an remoted incident; there are lots of of Palestinians whose our bodies are used as bargaining chips in order that their households cease any sort of activism or resistance or to interrupt the spirit of resistance,” Nimer advised Al Jazeera.
“Awdah was very beloved within the village, so this can be a tactic to interrupt their spirit,” he added.
In the meantime, Yinon Levi, the Israeli settler accused of firing the lethal pictures, was launched after spending just a few days on home arrest. A video of the incident filmed by native activists exhibits Levi opening hearth on Awdah, who died from a gunshot wound to his chest.
An Israeli settler simply shot Odeh Hadalin within the lungs, a outstanding activist who helped us movie No Different Land in Masafer Yatta. Residents recognized Yinon Levi, sanctioned by the EU and US, because the shooter. That is him within the video firing like loopy. pic.twitter.com/xH1Uo6L1wN
— Yuval Abraham יובל אברהם (@yuval_abraham) July 28, 2025
Residents in Umm al-Kheir on Monday documented Levi’s return to the world. Footage shared on social media teams depicted him overseeing bulldozing work alongside military officers on the close by Carmel settlement.
Levi is amongst a number of Israeli settlers within the occupied West Financial institution who had been previously sanctioned underneath the previous administration of United States President Joe Biden for perpetrating violence towards Palestinians.
US President Donald Trump reversed these sanctions in an govt order shortly after taking workplace for a second time period in January. The UK and the European Union, nonetheless, preserve sanctions towards Levi.
Nimer mentioned sanctions towards people do little to cease settler violence and the growth of Israel’s unlawful outposts. “It’s not simply people – there must be actual worldwide motion to sanction Israel and to cease any of this sort of behaviour,” he mentioned.
A ‘steady trauma’
Iman, Awdah’s cousin, mentioned Levi’s return makes her nervous about her household’s security. “In the present day, we’re afraid that he’s again and may do that once more, possibly he’ll shoot another person,” she advised Al Jazeera. Her father, Suleiman Hathaleen, was killed by an Israeli bulldozer in 2022.
Oneg Ben Dror, a Jaffa-based activist and good friend of the Hathaleen household, mentioned the starvation strike was a determined gesture for a neighborhood that has misplaced all hope of acquiring justice through authorized means.
“The ladies really feel that it’s their approach to protest, it’s a final resort to deliver again the physique,” she mentioned. “The neighborhood wants the likelihood to mourn and… begin the restoration from this horrible homicide.”
She added that the presence of Levi and different settlers on the bottom in Umm al-Kheir was a “steady trauma and a nightmare for the neighborhood and for his spouse”, who has been widowed whereas caring for 3 younger youngsters.
Dozens of left-wing Israeli and worldwide activists on Sunday took half in a march in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv to echo the calls for voiced by the starvation strikers. 4 activists had been arrested throughout the demonstrations.
The United Nations workplace has reported 757 settler assaults on Palestinians since January, up 13 % from 2024, as deaths since January close to 1,000.
The Israeli military has additionally intensified raids throughout the occupied West Financial institution and the demolition of lots of of properties. On Monday, two Palestinians had been killed by Israeli forces within the city of Qabatiya, south of Jenin. The Israeli municipality additionally issued a demolition order concentrating on the house of Palestinian residents in Silwan, in occupied East Jerusalem.
Palestinian authorities say 198 Palestinians had been killed within the West Financial institution because the starting of the 12 months, whereas 538 had been killed in 2024. At the least 188 our bodies are nonetheless being withheld by Israeli authorities.