The Jerusalem Magistrate’s Court on Friday rejected a police request to extend the house arrest of Yinon Levi, a sanctioned settler who allegedly shot dead Palestinian activist Awdah Hathaleen this week during a confrontation inside the West Bank village of Umm al-Khair.
Levi was released to house arrest on Tuesday, and police had sought to extend it until August 9.
Judge Chavi Toker said that the “reasonable suspicion” against Levi had become weaker, and that Levi’s claim that the shots he discharged from his pistol were not the shots that killed Hathaleen had been strengthened by testimony gathered by police investigators from “the other side” — apparently in reference to witnesses from Umm al-Khair and international activists who were in the village during the incident.
Toker said that testimony from “the other side” strengthened Levi’s claim that Hathaleen was some distance from Levi when he fired his gun.
She therefore ruled against the police’s request, asserting that the assertion that he poses a danger had been weakened.
Police requested a delay in releasing Levi from house arrest in order to allow an appeal of the decision, which Toker granted.
Hathaleen, who was featured in the Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land” about Israeli home demolitions in the West Bank, was allegedly shot dead by Levi when the latter operated an excavator inside Umm al-Khair and damaged trees and a water pipe inside the village.
Village residents and pro-Palestinian activists reportedly attempted to block construction work Levi was carrying out near the Carmel settlement, parts of which come right up to Umm al-Khair, and allegedly threw stones at the excavator he was using alongside an underage driver.
Levi and the minor were carrying out earthworks for a new neighborhood of Carmel, but allegedly crossed into Umm al-Khair’s territory, where they began damaging infrastructure and trees inside the village.
Hathaleen sent a WhatsApp message to activists in the area saying that Levi had tried to sever the main water pipe for the Palestinian village and then went with other activists to try to stop the construction vehicle.
While being questioned by Levi’s lawyer, the police representative in court said that the bullet that killed Hathaleen had not been found.
The police representative insisted, however, that since the potential charge against Levi was reckless manslaughter, further investigative actions were needed to determine if Levi had lawfully fired his weapon.
As to Levi’s claim that his gunshots were not those that killed Hathaleen, he said, “There are several versions [of events] here, there are a large number of involved persons. Each one sees the incident from his perspective, from where he stood.” He added that further investigative work was needed in order to sort out the claims.
Toker said that, along with the testimony she argued had strengthened Levi’s case, his claims of self-defense had also been boosted by evidence collected from the “other side.” She said, “There is no argument that an incident of dozens of participants who threw stones toward the respondent was prevented.”
Levi is among several West Bank settlers who were placed under economic sanctions by the former administration of former US president Joe Biden for perpetrating violence against Palestinians. President Donald Trump lifted the sanctions, but sanctions imposed by Canada, the UK, and the European Union remain in place.
Levi founded and operates an illegal farming outpost, Meitarim Farms, in the South Hebron Hills region where Umm al-Khair is located. He also owns a construction and demolition company which is subcontracted by the IDF to carry out demolitions in the West Bank of illegal Palestinian construction.
Levi has also been working in Gaza City, doing demolition work for the army there.
Civil rights organizations have repeatedly accused Levi of being responsible for severe violence and harassment against local Palestinians, using Meitarim Farms as a base for him and young settler extremists to intimidate and attack local communities such as Khirbet Zanuta, whose residents eventually fled their homes in October 2023 in the face of such harassment.
A petition to the High Court of Justice by Khirbet Zanuta residents demanding protection explicitly names Levi as one of the key sources of violence against the community.