An Israeli court has placed a settler accused of killing a Palestinian activist in the occupied West Bank under house arrest.
Levi is under investigation for reckless manslaughter and illegal firearm use following a deadly incident in the Israeli-occupied West Bank village of Umm al-Kheir.
Levi, sanctioned by the UK and Canada for violent acts against Palestinians, was filmed firing his handgun during a settler incursion and killing the Palestinian activist and filmmaker, Awdah Hathaleen (also known as Odeh Hadalin)
Awdah, a 31-year-old father of three and a teacher, was known for opposing Palestinian expulsions and co-directed the documentary No Other Land, which won the 2025 Oscar award in the documentary category.
Levi fired his handgun in the village of Umm al-Kheir in the southern occupied West Bank as a group of settlers from the nearby Israeli settlement of Carmel began entering the town.
An eyewitness described how Israeli settlers entered Palestinian private lands on an excavator, creating chaos and crushing activist and resident Ahmad Hathaleen.
Medical volunteers told reporters that Awdah was shot in the chest and died after several rounds of attempted resuscitation.
Video released by the Israeli human rights organisation B’Tselem shows Levi shooting Awdah during a clash in the village.
Four Palestinians were also arrested for alleged stone-throwing during the incident, while two foreign activists face deportation. The arrested Palestinians now face a military court.
Despite this footage and previous sanctions against Levi by both the European Union and the United States for past assaults on Palestinians, the Israeli court has placed him under house arrest.
The Biden administration imposed sanctions in eight separate rounds throughout 2024 on a total of 17 Israelis and 16 entities for committing “extremist settler violence in the [occupied] West Bank”. Their sanctioned designation restricted their ability to transact through formal banking channels.
Immediately after taking the oath of office on January 20, however, President Trump signed an executive order that lifted those sanctions.
Although international focus has largely been on the war in Gaza since October 7, 2023, the occupied West Bank has also seen a sharp rise in settler attacks and Israeli military incursions.
The Israeli military has denied Awdah’s burial in his home village, permitting it only in nearby Yatta, sparking outrage.
His death drew widespread mourning, with his friend and filmmaker Basel al Adra saying:
“This is how Israel erases us – one life at a time.”