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<h1>Palestinian women on hunger strike to demand body of slain activist</h1><p class="gmail-article__subhead"><em>Palestinians
in the West Bank are unable to mourn 31-year-old Awdah Hathaleen, while
the Israeli settler who shot him walks free.</em></p><div class="gmail-responsive-image"><img src="https://www.aljazeera.com/wp-content/uploads/2025/07/db626d5d-328e-4798-b5dc-27331e9e7a03-1-1753802647.jpg?resize=770%2C513&quality=80" alt="Selfie of a smiling, tanned man with a cap on his head backwards, and three of his smiling students" width="394" height="262" style="margin-right: 25px;"></div>Awdah
Hathaleen (left) died from a gunshot wound to his chest after a settler
attack in Umm al-Kheir [Courtesy of Waleed Hathaleen]<div class="gmail-article-info-block gmail-opinion-info-block"><div class="gmail-article-b-l"><ul class="gmail-article-author"><li class="gmail-article-author__item"><div class="gmail-article-author__info"><div class="gmail-article-author__name"><span class="gmail-article-by">By </span><a class="gmail-author-link" href="https://www.aljazeera.com/author/marsif">Federica Marsi</a></div></div></li></ul><div class="gmail-article-dates"><div class="gmail-date-simple"><span class="gmail-screen-reader-text">Published On 4 Aug 2025 - </span><font size="1"><a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/8/4/palestinian-women-on-hunger-strike-to-demand-body-of-slain-activist">https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/8/4/palestinian-women-on-hunger-strike-to-demand-body-of-slain-activist</a></font></div></div></div><div class="gmail-social-share-buttons"><div class="gmail-update-reading-list"></div></div></div><div class="gmail-update-reading-list"><span class="gmail-update-reading-list__tooltip" role="tooltip"></span></div><a class="gmail-social-share-button" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-label="Share on Facebook" href="https://www.facebook.com/sharer/sharer.php?u=https%3A%2F%2Faje.io%2Faxo3hu"></a><a class="gmail-social-share-button" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-label="Share on Twitter" href="https://twitter.com/intent/tweet?text=Palestinian%20women%20on%20hunger%20strike%20to%20demand%20body%20of%20slain%20activist&source=sharethiscom&related=sharethis&via=AJEnglish&url=https%3A%2F%2Faje.io%2Faxo3hu"></a><a class="gmail-social-share-button gmail-copylink" target="_blank" rel="noopener noreferrer" aria-label="Copy link" href="https://aje.io/axo3hu"></a><p>More
than 60 Palestinian women are staging a hunger strike to demand the
release of the body of Palestinian activist and English teacher <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/7/29/who-was-awdah-hathaleen-palestinian-activist-killed-by-an-israeli-settler">Awdah Hathaleen</a>, who was shot dead last week in the village of Umm al-Kheir, south of Hebron in the occupied West Bank.</p><p>Two women have received medical treatment as a result of the collective action, which started on Thursday.</p><p>The group is demanding the unconditional release of the body of the 31-year-old community leader who was a consultant for <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2025/3/3/israeli-palestinian-film-no-other-land-wins-oscar-for-best-documentary">No Other Land</a>,
a documentary film that won an Oscar award this year. Israeli police
set several conditions, including holding a quick and quiet burial at
night outside the village, with no more than 15 people in attendance.</p><p>The
protesters are also demanding the release of seven Umm al-Kheir
residents arrested by Israeli forces who remain in administrative
detention \u2013 a quasi-judicial process under which Palestinians are held
without charge or trial.</p><p>Umm al-Kheir is part of <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/features/2025/7/10/west-bank-palestinians-prepare-to-lose-homes-as-israel-pushes-for-expulsion">Masafer Yatta</a>,
a string of Palestinian hamlets located on the hills south of Hebron,
where residents have fought for decades to remain in their homes after
Israel declared the area an Israeli military \u201cfiring\u201d or training zone.</p><p>Iman
Hathaleen, Awdah\u2019s cousin, said women aged 13 to 70 were taking part in
the hunger strike. \u201cNow, as I\u2019m talking, I am starving and I am
breastfeeding,\u201d she told Al Jazeera. \u201cWe will continue this until they
release the body, so that we can honour him with the right Islamic
tradition. We have to grieve him as our religion told us to.\u201d</p><p>Awdah
was taken by an ambulance to Soroka hospital in Beer Sheva on July 28,
where he was pronounced dead after allegedly having been shot by an
Israeli settler. The police transferred his body to the Abu Kabir
National Institute of Forensic Medicine in Jaffa for an autopsy, which
was completed on Wednesday. They then refused to return the body unless
the family agreed to restrictive conditions on the funeral and burial.</p><h2 id="gmail-a-tactic-to-break-their-spirit">\u2018A tactic to break their spirit\u2019</h2><p>Fathi
Nimer, a researcher at the Al-Shabaka think tank, said Israel\u2019s policy
of withholding the body of a Palestinian was common practice. \u201cThis is
not an isolated incident; there are hundreds of Palestinians whose
bodies are used as bargaining chips so that their families stop any kind
of activism or resistance or to break the spirit of resistance,\u201d Nimer
told Al Jazeera.</p><p>\u201cAwdah was very loved in the village, so this is a tactic to break their spirit,\u201d he added.</p><p>Meanwhile,
Yinon Levi, the Israeli settler accused of firing the deadly shots, was
released after spending a few days on house arrest. A video of the
incident filmed by local activists shows Levi opening fire on Awdah, who
died from a gunshot wound to his chest.</p><div class="gmail-twitter-tweet gmail-twitter-tweet-rendered" style="display:flex;max-width:550px;width:100%;margin-top:10px;margin-bottom:10px"></div><p></p><p>Residents
in Umm al-Kheir on Monday documented Levi\u2019s return to the area.
Pictures shared on social media groups depicted him overseeing
bulldozing work alongside army officers at the nearby Carmel settlement.</p><p>Levi is among several Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank who were <a href="https://www.aljazeera.com/news/2024/11/18/biden-issues-more-israeli-settler-sanctions-ahead-of-trump-term">previously sanctioned</a> under the former administration of United States President Joe Biden for perpetrating violence against Palestinians.</p><p>US
President Donald Trump reversed those sanctions in an executive order
shortly after taking office for a second term in January. The United
Kingdom and the European Union, however, maintain sanctions against
Levi.</p><p>Nimer said sanctions against individuals do little to stop
settler violence and the expansion of Israel\u2019s illegal outposts. \u201cIt\u2019s
not just individuals \u2013 there needs to be real international action to
sanction Israel and to stop any of this kind of behaviour,\u201d he said.</p><h2 id="gmail-a-continuous-trauma">A \u2018continuous trauma\u2019</h2><p>Iman,
Awdah\u2019s cousin, said Levi\u2019s return makes her worried about her family\u2019s
safety. \u201cToday, we are afraid that he\u2019s back and can do this again,
maybe he will shoot someone else,\u201d she told Al Jazeera. Her father,
Suleiman Hathaleen, was killed by an Israeli bulldozer in 2022.</p><p>Oneg
Ben Dror, a Jaffa-based activist and friend of the Hathaleen family,
said the hunger strike was a desperate gesture for a community that has
lost all hope of obtaining justice via legal means.</p><p>\u201cThe women
feel that it\u2019s their way to protest, it\u2019s a last resort to bring back
the body,\u201d she said. \u201cThe community needs the possibility to mourn and\u2026
start the recovery from this horrible murder.\u201d</p><p>She added that the
presence of Levi and other settlers on the ground in Umm al-Kheir was a
\u201ccontinuous trauma and a nightmare for the community and for his wife\u201d,
who has been widowed while caring for three young children.</p><p>Dozens
of left-wing Israeli and international activists on Sunday took part in
a march in Jerusalem and Tel Aviv to echo the demands voiced by the
hunger strikers. Four activists were arrested during the demonstrations.</p><p>The
United Nations office has reported 757 settler attacks on Palestinians
since January, up 13 percent from 2024, as deaths since January near
1,000.</p><p>The Israeli army has also intensified raids across the
occupied West Bank and the demolition of hundreds of homes. On Monday,
two Palestinians were killed by Israeli forces in the town of Qabatiya,
south of Jenin. The Israeli municipality also issued a demolition order
targeting the home of Palestinian residents in Silwan, in occupied East
Jerusalem.</p><p>Palestinian authorities say 198 Palestinians were
killed in the West Bank since the beginning of the year, while 538 were
killed in 2024. At least 188 bodies are still being withheld by Israeli
authorities.</p>
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