Palestinian Journalist behind Oscar-winning documentary ‘No Other Land’ shot dead; Director Yuval Abraham calls it ‘Murder’ |
Awdah Hathaleen, a Palestinian journalist and activist who helped in creating the Oscar-winning documentary ‘No Other Land’, was reportedly shot dead by an Israeli shooter. Confirming the news, the film’s co-director, Yuval Abraham took to his Twitter handle to share that Hathaleen was killed in the village of Umm al-Khair in the Masafer Yatta region of the West Bank. In a Tweet, he wrote, “Odeh [Hathaleen] just died. Murdered.”Sharing a video of a gun-wielding man, identified by local residents as Yinon Levi, allegedly responsible for Hathaleen’s death. The clip shows the Israeli man, confronting a group of people, pushing them, drawing a gun, and firing into the crowd. Abraham tweeted, “An Israeli settler just shot Odeh Hadalin in the lungs, a remarkable activist who helped us film No Other Land in Masafer Yatta. Residents identified Yinon Levi, sanctioned by the EU and US, as the shooter. This is him in the video firing like crazy.”According to reports on Deadline, Hathaleen, 31, was critically injured in the incident and transported to a hospital, where he was later pronounced dead. His family confirmed the same to The New York Times.Hathaleen was one of the key collaborators on the documentary ‘No Other Land’. The documentary won international acclaim for its powerful portrayal of the destruction of Palestinian homes in Masafer Yatta by Israeli authorities. The film was co-directed by Abraham, Palestinian activist Basel Adra, and Israeli filmmaker Rachel Szor.The documentary has since won Best Documentary at the Academy Awards, along with major honours at the BAFTA Awards, European Film Awards, IDA Awards, and the Gotham Independent Film Awards. It has also been showcased at 68 international film festivals.In recent months, several members of the documentary crew made headlines for the discrimination and hardships they had to endure over the past months, since winning the Oscar. In June 2025, Abraham was denied entry into the United States upon arriving at San Francisco International Airport to participate in an interfaith speaking tour. In March, co-director Hamdan Ballal was detained by Israeli forces in the village of Susiya and held in custody for over 20 hours. Following his release, several Hollywood actors came together to slam The Academy for its silence on the director’s detention.
