JERUSALEM (AP) — Israeli prosecutors Thursday charged a settler for the killing of a Palestinian community leader last year in the occupied West Bank, according to an indictment filed in district court.
In the document, prosecutors accuse Yinon Levi, who lives in the south of the West Bank, of reckless manslaughter in the death of prominent Palestinian activist Awdah Hathaleen in July 2025. The charge holds a lesser punishment than murder under Israeli law. The indictment also charges Levi with armed trespassing and malicious property damage.
It is extremely rare for Israel to charge settlers with violence against Palestinians. Israeli rights group B’Tselem said that the charges against Levi mark the first time since Oct. 7, 2023, that an Israeli has been indicted for the death of a Palestinian in the West Bank. In that time, the group said, Israeli settlers and soldiers have killed at least 1,100 Palestinians in the territory.
A lawyer for Levi, Avichay Hajbi, did not confirm whether an indictment was handed down, but told The Associated Press that the prosecution had made a “mistaken decision.” He said the defense would respond to the accusations in court.
Levi was shown in video footage shooting at crowds of Palestinians in Hathaleen’s village, Umm al-Khair, on the day the activist was killed. Witnesses said one of the shots Levi fired struck Hathaleen, who was standing meters away.
One video showed Levi firing two shots, while another, which family members say was taken by Hathaleen himself, showed Levi firing toward the person holding the camera. The footage cuts, but the person can still be heard moaning in pain.
Hathaleen was a prominent voice advocating against settler violence and was involved in the 2025 Oscar-winning film “No Other Land,” which chronicled the fight by Palestinian residents to protect their homes and villages. A teacher and father of three, he often hosted international activists and dignitaries in his home.
His public profile and the videos capturing the moment of the alleged shooting ignited global calls for Levi’s prosecution.
Levi was among the Israeli settlers sanctioned by the United States and other Western countries over allegations of violence toward Palestinians in 2024. U.S. President Donald Trump lifted the U.S. sanctions after taking office the following year.
FILE -Yinon Levi works on his farm in the South Hebron Hills, West Bank, May 12, 2024. (AP Photo/Maya Alleruzzo, File)
FILE -Mourners carry the body of Palestinian activist Awdah Al Hathaleen, who was killed by Israeli settler according to Palestinian health officials, during his funeral in the West Bank Bedouin village of Umm al-Khair, Aug. 7, 2025. (AP Photo/Mahmoud Illean, File)
SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea launched a short-range ballistic missile toward the sea on Thursday, South Korea's military said, resuming weapons tests days before its rivals the U.S. and South Korea begin annual military drills that North Korea views as an invasion rehearsal.
The launch from North Korea's eastern coastal Wonsan area was detected around 5 p.m., South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said, explaining that South Korea's military has bolstered its surveillance posture and is closely coordinating with the U.S. and Japan.
Japan’s Defense Ministry also said North Korea fired a possible ballistic missile but there was no impact in or around Japan, where the coast guard urged ships around the coast to use caution and notify authorities if any fallen objects were found.
The ballistic missile launch was North Korea’s first since late June, when it tested a tactical ballistic missile with a “special mission” warhead and other weapons. After watching the testing activities, leader Kim Jong Un underscored the need to bolster the military’s “deadly and destructive offensive posture.”
Thursday's launch also came ahead of large-scale, annual exercises to be conducted by the U.S. and South Korean militaries later this month. U.S. and South Korean officials say the training is defensive in nature, but North Korea says the maneuvers are a practice invasion and often responds with its own missile tests and warlike rhetoric.
South Korean and U.S. officials haven't formally released details about this year's joint exercise, but the drills are typically held in the latter half of August.
Kim has been focusing on enlarging its nuclear and missile arsenals since his high-stakes diplomacy with U.S. President Donald Trump collapsed in 2019. Experts say Kim wants international recognition as a nuclear state so that he can demand the lifting of international economic sanctions on North Korea.
U.N. Security Council resolutions ban North Korea from launches involving its huge stockpile of ballistic missiles. Tests of other weapons including cruise missiles and artillery systems are not banned, but experts say they still pose a threat to South Korea and the U.S.
In early July, Kim supervised tests of a nuclear-capable cruise missile aboard a new 5,000-ton destroyer. After years of prioritizing ballistic missile development, Kim has increasingly turned his focus to naval capabilities, including the construction of a nuclear-powered submarine.
In recent years, Kim has boosted his diplomatic credentials by expanding ties with Russia. North Korea has supplied conventional weapons and troops to Russia to support its war against Ukraine.
Kim also has pushed to deepen cooperation with China, the North's economic pipeline. Chinese President Xi Jinping visited the North Korean capital Pyongyang in June for the first time in seven years.
In response to Trump’s repeated outreach to restart diplomacy, Kim has suggested talks can resume if the U.S. drops its demand for North Korean denuclearization as a precondition.
Associated Press writer Mari Yamaguchi in Tokyo contributed to this report.
FILE - A North Korean flag flutters in the wind atop a 160-meter tower in North Korea's village Gijungdong as seen from the Taesungdong freedom village inside the demilitarized zone in Paju, South Korea on April 24, 2018. (AP Photo/Lee Jin-man, File)
