By Abeer Salman, Christian Edwards, Eyad Kourdi, Dana Karni, CNN

(CNN) — A prominent Palestinian activist who had worked on an Oscar-winning documentary was killed on Monday during an attack by Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank, according to local journalists and officials.

Odeh Hathalin, who was a consultant on “No Other Land,” a film that documents Israeli settler and military attacks on the West Bank community of Masafer Yatta, was shot in the village of Umm al-Khair, in that same community.

Yinon Levi, an Israeli settler whose US sanctions were lifted by the Trump administration in January, was arrested at the scene and released on house arrest on Tuesday, his lawyer told reporters. Israeli police said in a statement without naming Levi that an Israeli citizen was taken into custody “for questioning on suspicion of reckless conduct resulting in death and unlawful use of a firearm.”

Hathalin’s shooting was first reported by Yuval Abraham, the Israeli investigative journalist who co-directed “No Other Land.” A video shared by Abraham on X showed Levi firing a gun multiple times as he confronted Palestinian villagers. CNN geolocated the video to the site of the incident.

In the video, Levi – carrying a handgun, standing in front of a bulldozer – is seen grappling with a villager and pushing away the man filming him. He then begins to fire to his side and in the air, then moves towards the handful of Palestinians. The villagers soon begin to run away.

It was unclear from the footage what Levi was shooting at. Another video obtained by CNN showed a man who appeared to be Hathalin bleeding on the ground.

The Palestinian health ministry said later he had died of his injuries.

Levi was sanctioned by the Biden administration and the European Union last year but was removed from the US sanctions list shortly after President Donald Trump took office this year. In its initial sanctions announcement in April 2024, the US Department of Treasury State Department said that Levi “regularly led groups of violent extremists who engaged in actions creating an atmosphere of fear in the West Bank.”

It added that groups led by Levi assaulted Palestinian civilians, “threatened them with additional violence if they did not leave their homes, burned their fields, and destroyed their property.”

Many settlers are armed, and violence in the West Bank has surged since the Hamas attacks of October 7, 2023. At least 964 Palestinians have been killed since then by Israeli forces and settlers in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, according to the United Nations, as of July 15th.

Settlers have a strong influence on Israeli politics, and in the rare cases where they are arrested for violent attacks against Palestinians, they are often released without charge.

Jewish settlements in the Israeli-occupied West Bank are illegal under international law.

Alaa al-Hathalin, Hathalin’s cousin, told CNN that Levi was known to the community because “he always attacks us.”

Al-Hathalin described how, as a group of villagers confronted Israeli settlers who were operating a bulldozer, Levi “came with the gun and started shooting … and shot Odeh in the chest.” Al-Hatahlin said his cousin had three sons, aged 5, 3 and seven months.

Levi’s lawyer Avichai Hajbi criticized the police for arresting his client and claimed “the investigating unit itself admitted that the shooting was carried out due to a life-threatening situation faced by Yinon Levi and another individual.” His client was “attacked by a mob throwing stones, endangering his life and that of others,” Hajbi said in a statement.

Police petitioned a local court to extend Levi’s time under arrest. During the hearing, they described the incident as taking place as Levi and a minor near the settlement of Carmel in the West Bank finished up excavation work. “The two were attacked by a large number of rioters who threw stones at them in an attempt to harm the minor, who was driving, and the respondent. It appears that their lives were in danger,” the police told the court.

“At a certain point, the respondent used his firearm and fired shots, as a result of which, allegedly, a person nearby was killed. Since the report of the incident, the investigating unit has conducted many investigative actions… However, several investigative steps still require the respondent’s continued detention due to concern over obstruction of justice,” the police said. The court denied the extension.

Ofer Cassif, a left-wing member of Israel’s parliament, has demanded that authorities launch an investigation into Hathalin’s death.

“The incident occurred in broad daylight, in front of cameras, with no fear of legal consequences – testament to the paralysis of law enforcement and the complete sense of immunity enjoyed by violent settlers,” Cassif wrote in a letter to Israel’s Attorney General.

Basel Adra, a Palestinian journalist and a co-director of “No Other Land,” shared testimony to his “dear friend” Hathalin.

“He was standing in front of the community settler in his village when a settler fired a bullet that pierced his chest and took his life. This is how Israel erases us – one life at a time,” Adra wrote in a post on Instagram.

Last month, Hathalin was detained at San Francisco International Airport upon arrival and deported after immigration officials revoked his visa, local media reported. He had been invited to visit a California synagogue as part of an interfaith speaking tour.

CNN reported in March that settlers had also targeted Hamdan Ballal, another co-director of “No Other Land,” outside his home in the village of Susya, also in Masser Yatta. Ballal, who had recently returned from Los Angeles to accept an Oscar for the film, told CNN he thought the group of settlers would kill him. He said he was detained by Israeli soldiers, handcuffed, blindfolded and beaten.

The film “No Other Land,” which tracked the destruction of the Masser Yatta community between 2019 and 2023, won Best Documentary Feature Film at the 2024 Oscars. Its final scene shows Adra’s cousin, Zakara al-Adra, being shot by an Israeli settler in October 2023.

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This article has been updated with new reporting.