AMY GOODMAN: I’m Amy Goodman. This is Democracy Now!, democracynow.org.

In the occupied West Bank, family and friends of the Palestinian activist and teacher Odeh Muhammad Hadalin are reeling, after an Israeli settler shot and killed him in a village near Hebron on Monday. Hadalin played a key role in the production of the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land, which follows Palestinians in the community of Masafer Yatta as they struggle to stay on their land amidst violent attacks by Israeli settlers.

Residents identified Hadalin’s killer as Yinon Levi, an Israeli settler who was put on a European Union sanctions list last year for his violent attacks on Palestinians and property. The Biden administration sanctioned him, but the Trump administration earlier this year lifted the Biden-era sanctions on Levi. Video appears to show him brandishing and firing a handgun at Palestinians ahead of Monday’s fatal attack. Odeh’s cousin and brother-in-law, Alaa Hathaleen, described what he saw happen.

ALAA HATHALEEN: Yesterday, as always, the occupations continue to attack and ethnic cleansing the Palestinian, forced displacement them by all the ways. Yesterday, suddenly, the Israel’s bulldozers and the settlers were working here in the land, in the land of Umm al-Khair, and then they’re trying to move the bulldozer from the land to the settlement. And there’s a Palestinian — private Palestinian land for us between them. And we tell them, peacefully, “Don’t do that. There’s so many trees. There’s a fence. You will destroy everything. Don’t do any of that. Stop.” We’re trying peacefully to stop them. We call them many times, “Stop, stop,” and they never hear to us. And they continue, until he beat one of my brothers in his head with the bulldozers, and he was in a coma.

Then, after that, he moved and continued. And as you see from here, he destroyed a fence and came here, and the bulldozer’s going inside. And the other settlers, Yinon Levi, the very well-known settlers, Yinon Levi arrived to the place here. There’s no dangers for him. There’s no one. We just was shouting to him, “Why are you doing that? We will call the police. This is wrong. This is not right. This is wrong, the thing that you’re doing. This is a private Palestinian land, according to even Israel’s court. This is a Palestinian land.” And they never hear to us. They never listen to us. They continue to do whatever they want.

When they arrived here, I was the one who’s in front of him. I was just filming him. I was trying to stop him. I tell him,”Please don’t shoot. Don’t shoot anyone. There’s too many people. There’s children. Stop.” And suddenly, he started shooting even a lot of bullets up everywhere, and all the ones inside the center community, far from this, from the event. He even didn’t participate in anything. And they shoot all the — all the peaceful resistance men, all the teachers, all these the father of the children, all these my cousins. This is my sister’s husband, three sons left without father.

Because why? Because Yinon Levi, Trump decided to lift the sanction from him and give them the permission to continue to kill the Palestinians. This is what we see every day. This is what we’re suffering every day. This is not from today. Four years ago, they killed also my uncle, Sheikh Suleiman, by the same way, by the bulldozers run over him. When this will stop? We just want to live in peace, in peace, with our dignity, with our freedom, without suffering, with our rights.

AMY GOODMAN: That was Odeh Hadalin’s cousin and brother-in-law Alaa, speaking to Oren Ziv, who joins us now from Tel Aviv. Oren is a reporter and photographer with +972 Magazine and the independent Israeli news site Local Call, just co-wrote a new piece about Odeh with his colleagues Basel Adra and Yuval Abraham, who are the directors of the Oscar-winning film No Other Land.

Our deepest condolences, Oren. You knew Odeh. Tell us the latest. This hasn’t stopped. The Israeli military raided the funeral tent and arrested more of Odeh’s family after his death?

OREN ZIV: Thank you for having me.

Yes, you are right. Unfortunately, this tragic incident, that, of course, happened because of the backup the settlers on the ground get from the police, from the army and from the Israeli government, this has continued. Although in this case the victim is a Palestinian, the suspect shooter is a settler, a well-known one, as you mentioned, the Israeli authorities, the army, the police and the settlers continued their campaign against the village.

It’s important to say that since the war in Gaza began, they, this community, like many others in the area, have been under constant pressure to leave, harassment, invadements, seizing of land and other things. But you could imagine that at least while people are mourning the death of Odeh, that was really loved among all the community and also by Israeli international activists that came to the village, they did not stop — the opposite.

I was there yesterday. The army came very aggressively to the community center, to the place he was killed, the place people were gathering to remember him, and ordered people to leave. They were pushing journalists, family members that are not from this specific village and activists, people who knew him very well. They forced us out. And even in the entrance to the village, they started to throw stun grenades. And it’s important to say, it’s not only an attack on the family, on his friends; it’s an attempt to prevent us from the journalists to investigate the case. Of course, we had to be there to see this place he was shot, to confirm that he was in the community center. He was not even near the bulldozer of the settlers.

Later on, at night, the Israeli army raided the village, arresting eight men, in addition to five Palestinians that were arrested during the incident, while the suspect, Yinon Levi, was released to house arrest by the Israeli court. Of course, the Palestinians are processed in the military system, so they will see a judge only in a few days. But I think this is not a coincidence. It’s a message to the Palestinians, to the people who stand with them in Umm al-Khair, that despite the tragedy, the settlers and the state are continuing the effort to push the people out.

And, you know, even burying him, a very simple thing, the Israeli army is preventing him to be buried in his hometown, in his village. They want him to be buried in a nearby town, despite the fact his family obviously wants to bury him in the place he lived all his life, and he was active there.

His friends and colleague told me — and I also knew him personally — that he was the most peaceful man. Every time I came there, I would see him. He would always host and greet people and make tours there. He was in contact with the media. He was updated — updating me weekly on the harassment, on the campaign of the settlers and the army to force them to leave. And it’s a tragedy that it’s hard to imagine. You know, Umm al-Khair will not be the same without him.

AMY GOODMAN: Oren Ziv, I want to thank you for being with us. We’ll continue to follow this and follow the funeral when it takes place. Again, family members have been taken, of Odeh, but the man who is responsible for his death has been released under house arrest. Oren Ziv, reporter and photographer for +972 Magazine, we’ll link to your new piece about Odeh headlined “The most peaceful person.” I’m Amy Goodman. Thanks for joining us.