After being pelted with a barrage of life-threatening rocks by an angry Palestinian mob, an Israeli construction worker opened fire Tuesday afternoon near the South Hebron Hills community of Carmel, in the area of Masafer Yatta. The shooting resulted in the death of Odeh Hadalin, a prominent Palestinian activist and contributor to the documentary No Other Land. The Israeli man, Yinon Levi, says he fired in self-defense after facing what he described as an attempted lynching.
Levi, who was working on infrastructure development for a new neighborhood adjacent to the Israeli community of Carmel, was reportedly attacked by more than 30 Palestinians who arrived from a nearby illegal Palestinian settlement. According to the civic organization My Israel, the Palestinian mob surrounded Levi’s vehicle and shattered all of its windows with rocks, placing Levi in immediate and serious danger.
Footage released after the incident shows the chaos unfolding as the confrontation intensified. In one video, Levi can be heard shouting, “Who is throwing stones?!” moments before discharging his weapon. Although the widely circulated clip makes it appear as if Levi was the aggressor, additional video from the Mount Hebron Regional Council paints a starkly different picture—dozens of Palestinians hurling rocks at close range, with only a handful of Israelis present.
Israeli journalist Hanan Greenwood has argued that the edited footage shared on social media omits crucial context and distorts the narrative. Visual evidence clearly shows the shooting occurred adjacent to the Israeli neighborhood of Carmel, directly contradicting claims that Levi had “entered a Palestinian village.” The buildings of Carmel are visible in the background of Palestinian video footage.
Levi, who the UK, Canada have sanctioned, and the Biden administration for his activism in the South Hebron Hills, was detained by Israeli police along with four Palestinians as part of an investigation into the incident. He is cooperating fully and maintains that he acted in self-defense.
“This was not a protest. This was a mob assault,” said My Israel in a statement. “Yinon Levi was attacked with rocks by more than 30 individuals. The fact that he was armed prevented a tragedy—for him.”
Security sources and residents of the area say such confrontations have become increasingly common in the South Hebron Hills, where friction between Palestinian encampments and nearby Israeli communities frequently escalates.
Critics of the initial reporting point out that much of the outrage surrounding the event was fueled by one-sided or selectively framed footage. “It’s very easy to judge from afar,” Greenwood commented. “But when dozens of people are running toward you, throwing rocks that can kill, the fear is real—and the instinct to protect yourself is very human.”
The incident remains under investigation, but emerging evidence supports the claim that Levi acted in response to a direct and immediate threat to his life.
