France calls Israeli settler violence ‘terrorism’ after Palestinian activist killed
France condemned the killing of a Palestinian teacher and activist, Awdah Mohammed Khalil Al-Hathalin, who contributed to the Oscar-winning documentary No Other Land, calling Israeli settlers' violence "acts of terrorism."
A spokesperson for France’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said on Tuesday that the country condemns this murder with the utmost firmness as well as all deliberate acts of violence committed by extremist settlers against the Palestinian population, which are multiplying across the West Bank. These acts of violence are acts of terrorism."
The Palestinian Authority in the occupied West Bank said Israeli settlers killed Hathalin on Monday.
The Israeli police stated that it was "investigating an incident near Carmel (al-Karmil)”, an illegal Israeli settlement neighboring Umm al-Khair.
"Settlers have killed more than 30 people since the beginning of 2022. The Israeli authorities must take responsibility, immediately prosecute the perpetrators of these acts, which continue with total impunity and protect Palestinian civilians," France’s Foreign Ministry added.
He “was shot dead by settlers … during their attack on the village of Umm al-Khair”, in Masafer Yatta, the Palestinian Authority’s Ministry of Education wrote on social media late on Monday.
The Palestinian news agency Wafa reported that a second Palestinian was injured in the attack after being beaten by a settler.
Hathalin was a resident of Masafer Yatta, a string of hamlets on the hills south of Hebron. The area has been illegally declared a military zone by Israel.
A father of three, his eldest child just 6, Hathalin was known for his strong opposition to Israeli settlement expansion in the area.
The Academy Award-winning documentary, No Other Land in which he was involved, is based on the Palestinian struggle to prevent Israeli forces from destroying their homes.
The documentary’s co-director, Yuval Abraham, posted a video on Instagram showing a man with a gun in his hand arguing with a group of people, while cries in Arabic and Hebrew could be heard in the background.
“An Israeli settler just shot (Hathalin) in the lungs, a remarkable activist who helped us film ‘No Other Land’ in Masafer Yatta,” Abraham wrote.
About three million Palestinians live in the occupied West Bank alongside nearly half a million Israelis living in settlements, which are considered illegal under international law.
Since October 7, 2023, when the Israeli regime began its genocidal campaign against the people of Gaza, Israeli forces and settlers have killed at least 962 Palestinians in the occupied West Bank.
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