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Palestinian activist Odeh Hathalin, who worked on Oscar-winning film, shot dead in West Bank
The French government, calling the murder an "act of terrorism", said “it was deeply saddened to learn of the murder of Odeh Hathalin."
Prominent Palestinian activist Odeh Hathalin, who worked on an Oscar-winning documentary, died after he was shot by a Jewish settler in a village near Hebron in Israeli-occupied West Bank.
Odeh Hathalin, who was a consultant on “No Other Land,” a film that documented Israeli settler and military attacks on the Palestinian community of Masafer Yatta, was shot in the village of Umm al-Khair.
Hathalin was "shot in the upper body" and later succumbed to his injuries. A second Palestinian was also injured in the attack after being beaten by the settler. He is currently admitted to a hospital, Palestinian news agency Wafa reported.
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The Israeli Police has detained the Israeli civilian and he was later arrested for questioning, CNN reported.
The Palestinian Authority's Ministry of Education said he was "shot dead by settlers during their attacks on the village of Umm al-Khair”.
However, the Israeli military said that “terrorists hurled rocks toward Israeli civilians near Carmel.”
Yuval Abraham, the Israeli journalist who co-directed “No Other Land”, posted a video of the incident and said, "An Israeli settler just shot Odeh Hadalin in the lungs."
"Residents identified Yinon Levi, sanctioned by the EU and US, as the shooter. This is him in the video firing like crazy," Abraham added in the X post.
The violence in the West Bank by Israeli settlers have surged since the October 7 attacks and at least 964 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces and settlers in such attacks.
Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank are illegal under international law, according to CNN.
France calls Israeli settlers' violence 'acts of terrorism'
The French government issued a statement saying "it was deeply saddened to learn of the murder of Odeh Hathalin, who represented the village of Umm al-Khair in the Masafer Yatta Valley".
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"France condemns this murder in the strongest possible terms, along with all the violence that extremist settlers are deliberately inflicting on the Palestinian population and which is spreading throughout the West Bank," the statement said.
The French government also called the violent actions as "acts of terrorism" and said that settlers have killed more than 30 people since 2022.
The Israeli authorities must uphold their responsibilities and immediately punish the perpetrators of such violence, which is continuing with impunity, and protect Palestinian civilians, the statement added.
