Israeli forces cordoned off the small Palestinian community of Umm Al-Khair more than 25 times last year. Settlers intensified attacks to terrorize residents into leaving their homes, according to Aziz Hathaleen.
Aziz visited the UK for the first time to continue the advocacy work that his brother began in London in 2024. An Israeli settler killed Awdah Hathaleen on July 28, 2025.
The Britain Palestine Project invited Aziz to speak with members of parliament and civil society organizations. He briefed them on the impact of the settlement drive on the 300 residents of Umm Al-Khair, a Bedouin community near Hebron in the southern occupied West Bank.
The residents have lived in the area since 1948. Their larger tribe, Arab Al-Jahalin, was forced from Beersheba and Tel Arad during the Nakba and settled in the Jordan Valley.
Umm Al-Khair sits in Area C, where Israel maintains full security and administrative control. Aziz said the village was built on private land purchased by the Hathaleens, with ownership recognized by documents from Israel’s Civil Administration. A wire barrier separates the village from the nearby Carmel settlement, established in 1980.
"They have no excuse to displace the residents of Umm Al-Khair by claiming it’s state-owned land or a firing military zone, aside from daily settler attacks intended to scare and terrorize people away from their homes," Aziz said.
Attacks over the past four years included cutting down olive trees, harming livestock, raising Israeli flags on homes, disrupting water and electricity, and intruding on playgrounds. The Hathaleens filed multiple lawsuits regarding Carmel’s expansion and trespassing, but nothing matched the killing of Awdah at age 31.
Awdah was an English teacher, activist, and parent of three who appeared in the 2024 documentary film No Other Land, which documents the repeated destruction of Masafer Yatta near Hebron.
In August, settler Yinon Levi was indicted in a Beersheba district court for reckless manslaughter, armed trespassing, and malicious property damage over the killing. Aziz said he has seen the settler near the site since the incident, as Levi remains free during the ongoing trial. The UK government previously sanctioned Levi in February 2024 with an asset freeze and travel ban for acts of aggression against Palestinians.
Aziz said the UK’s sanctions on trade with settlements in September and the recognition of the state of Palestine were welcomed, though late. He serves as the engineering director at the Palestinian Ministry of Local Government in Hebron and as a community leader.
"I hope this support translates into concrete policies by the British government to advance Palestinian rights," he said.
Despite strong public support in Britain, Aziz expressed pessimism regarding policy shifts in Israel. "While we may see fewer settler attacks, the land grab will continue. This suffering has all started in 1980," he said.
