Israeli police detained four protesters in Tel Aviv on Sunday evening, August 3, during a demonstration against the military and police over the killing of Awdah Hathaleen, a Palestinian activist shot by a settler in the occupied West Bank last week and left a wife, Hanadi (24), and three children under the age of 6. His body remains withheld by the authorities. Hundreds of anti-occupation activists, including Hadash MK Ofer Cassif, arrived to block Kaplan Road in what the police described as an unauthorized protest. Another 200 protested at Paris Square in central Jerusalem.
Hundreds of activists including Hadash MK Ofer Cassif (with a photo of Awdah Hathaleen) blocking Kaplan Road in central Tel Aviv, Sunday, August 3, 2025 (Photo: Zo Haderekh)
The wife of Hathaleen filed a petition with the High Court of Justice on Sunday against Israel’s holding of the body. The state was ordered to submit a preliminary response by Monday. On Sunday, the military court in Ofer Prison in the occupied West Bank also ordered the release of two of the village’s residents who were arrested in recent days. However, at the police’s request, a 24-hour delay was granted
Hathaleen’s body is still being held by Israel, despite the autopsy having been completed on Wednesday. The police and the occupation forces are refusing to hand over the body to his family unless they agree to the army’s terms for the funeral. However, the family has refused the army’s conditions, which include a commitment that no mourning tent be erected near his house; that Hathaleen will be buried in the nearby city of Yatta and not in his village; and a maximum of 15 people at the funeral.
The shooting settler is Yinon Levi, who lives in the Havat Meitarim outpost and is co-owner of an earthworks company responsible for much destruction in the region. He has been placed on the sanctions lists of 8 countries (9 if one includes the US, which has since lifted all sanctions on violent settlers). The sanctions mainly cite his role in the expulsion of the Zanuta Palestinian community immediately after October 7, 2023, and the systematic destruction of the village thereafter. Anti-occupation activists documented Levi in at least 26 violent incidents in recent years, including a shooting, perhaps with the same weapon he used on past bloody Monday.
According to testimonies, Levi began walking after Monday around the village with soldiers, ordering them to arrest whomever he wanted, and they acted on his orders. In the days that have passed since, about 20 of the village’s residents have been arrested. He was later arrested on suspicion of “killing by negligence,” but within a day he was released to house arrest and latterly was also released from house arrest.
Judge Chavi Toker ruled that Levi could not be linked to Hathaleen’s killing since “the bullet was not found” and that in any case, “he felt in danger” and used the massive arrests in the village to corroborate the claim spread by the settlers, according to which Levi was the victim of violence here.
On Sunday morning a coalition of more than 60 Jewish and Arab peace organizations has erected an encampment in Tel Aviv’s Dizengoff Square, protesting the ongoing war in Gaza. Organized by the It’s Time Coalition, the encampment aims to spotlight the humanitarian crisis in Gaza while calling for the immediate release of Israeli hostages and end the war. The coalition includes groups such as Rabbis for Human Rights, Partnership for Peace, Standing Together, and the Forum of Israeli Peace NGOs.
Mika Almog, the content director for the It’s Time Coalition, told The Jerusalem Post that the war has been prolonged for the current far-right government’s political gain. “This is a criminal political war that is still going on for political reasons that is not certainly the interest of the Israeli people. Hostages should have been home a long time ago,” she stated.
The coalition, founded in the summer of 2024, held a kickoff event at Menorah Stadium attended by several thousands of supporters. Almog, who is the granddaughter of former Israeli president Shimon Peres, emphasized the shared belief among encampment attendees that the war is “not only inhuman and immoral, but [it’s] detrimental to the future of Israel.”
A statement from the coalition highlighted the urgency of their message, stating, “This war must end. The most devastating war in our history must be stopped—now.” The statement directly addresses the humanitarian toll, referencing the “mass killing, the total destruction, and the starvation of an entire population” and comparing it to the Israeli vow of “Never again.”
Related: https://maki.org.il/en/?p=32867
