Greater than 60 Palestinian girls 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 girls have acquired medical therapy on account of the collective motion, which began on Thursday.
The group is demanding the unconditional launch of the physique of the 31-year-old group chief who was a guide for No Different Land, a documentary movie that gained 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 individuals 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 positioned on the hills south of Hebron, the place residents have fought for many years to stay of their properties after Israel declared the realm an Israeli army “firing” or coaching zone.
Iman Hathaleen, Awdah’s cousin, stated girls 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 will honour him with the proper Islamic custom. We have now 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 allegedly 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, stated Israel’s coverage of withholding the physique of a Palestinian was widespread apply. “This isn’t an remoted incident; there are tons of of Palestinians whose our bodies are used as bargaining chips in order that their households cease any type of activism or resistance or to interrupt the spirit of resistance,” Nimer advised Al Jazeera.
“Awdah was very liked within the village, so it is a tactic to interrupt their spirit,” he added.
In the meantime, Yinon Levi, the Israeli settler accused of firing the lethal photographs, was launched after spending just a few days on home arrest. A video of the incident filmed by native activists reveals 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 exceptional 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 realm. Photos 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 beforehand sanctioned underneath the previous administration of United States President Joe Biden for perpetrating violence in opposition to Palestinians.
US President Donald Trump reversed these sanctions in an government order shortly after taking workplace for a second time period in January. The UK and the European Union, nevertheless, preserve sanctions in opposition to Levi.
Nimer stated sanctions in opposition to 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 stated.
A ‘steady trauma’
Iman, Awdah’s cousin, stated Levi’s return makes her anxious about her household’s security. “As we speak, we’re afraid that he’s again and might 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, stated the starvation strike was a determined gesture for a group that has misplaced all hope of acquiring justice by way of authorized means.
“The ladies really feel that it’s their strategy to protest, it’s a final resort to convey again the physique,” she stated. “The group 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 group and for his spouse”, who has been widowed whereas caring for 3 younger kids.
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 p.c 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 tons 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.
