Israeli prosecutors have charged a settler over the killing of a Palestinian activist in the occupied West Bank.
Yinon Levy, a leader of a settler outpost, was charged with reckless manslaughter in the July 2025 shooting of Odeh Hathaleen, a teacher and father-of-three, by Israel’s Southern District Prosecutor’s Office.
B’Tselem, a leading Israeli rights group, said the indictment was the first time an Israeli had been accused of killing a Palestinian in the West Bank in nearly three years.
A lawyer for Hathaleen’s family described the charges as a possible turning point in imposing consequences on settlers who violently target Palestinians.
Levy wrote a letter, seen by the Associated Press, that he would fight for his innocence and that prosecutors should not penalise acts of self‑defence, accusing them of supporting terrorism. In a response, Levy’s lawyer Avichai Hajbi said the prosecution had made a “mistaken decision”.
The indictment also charges Levy with armed trespassing and malicious property damage during an incident involving an excavator in Umm al‑Khair village, where he allegedly fired at residents, hitting Hathaleen and then fired a warning shot into the air. Video footage of the confrontation spread widely online. Levy has previously denied firing the fatal shot.
The case comes after the 7 October 2023 Hamas attack and the resulting Gaza war, which led to a surge in settler violence in the West Bank. Since then, at least 1,110 Palestinians and 41 Israelis have been killed in the region, according to the United Nations.
B’Tselem called the decision to indict Levy “the exception that proves the rule”, noting that Israel’s system of impunity allows violence to continue unabated. Activist Mattan Berner‑Kadish, who was present at the scene, said he was surprised to see the charges, hoping for a murder charge and a longer sentence.
Hathaleen had been a prominent voice against settlement violence, appearing in the 2025 Oscar‑winning film "No Other Land" that documented the legal battle over Masafer Yatta, a West Bank community of 20 villages that faced demolition and expulsion following a Supreme Court ruling in 2022.
Levy, sanctioned by the UK in 2024 for aggression and property destruction, denied the allegations to the BBC that same year. He had also been sanctioned by the United States under the Biden administration before those sanctions were lifted by President Trump.
Additional reporting by Mallory Moench.
