An Israeli settler was charged on Thursday with reckless manslaughter in connection with the death of a well-known Palestinian activist, a rare indictment by the Israeli authorities of an Israeli accused of violence against Palestinians.

The activist, Awdah Hathaleen, whose work was featured in the Oscar-winning documentary “No Other Land,” was shot dead in Umm al-Khair, a village in the Israeli-occupied West Bank, in June 2025.

The settler, Yinon Levi, who runs an outpost near the southern West Bank city of Hebron, was charged in the killing, with the indictment saying he fired in a “reckless” manner toward an area with people, including children.

Avichai Hajbi, Mr. Levi’s lawyer, has previously said his client had acted in self-defense and believed his life was in danger from Palestinians throwing stones, so he shot into the air to protect himself. Mr. Hajbi did not immediately respond to a request for comment about the indictment.

Mr. Hathaleen’s killing shined a light on deadly settler violence in the West Bank, which has reached record levels since the Hamas-led Oct. 7, 2023, attack on southern Israel.

The family of Mr. Hathaleen, 31, said it was relieved to learn of the indictment but expressed frustration that Israeli prosecutors did not bring a more severe charge against Mr. Levi. A manslaughter conviction could result in up to 12 years in prison.

“We hope we will achieve justice for Awdah,” Khalil Hathaleen, his brother, said in an interview. “That’s our sole demand.”

The last time an Israeli settler was indicted on a charge of killing a Palestinian was in 2019, according to Ziv Stahl, executive director of Yesh Din, an Israeli human rights group that focuses on accountability in the West Bank.

Palestinians attacked by settlers often have little legal recourse, according to Israeli human rights groups. Yesh Din, an Israeli human rights group, examined more than 1,700 cases of Jewish extremist violence in the West Bank from 2005 to 2024 and found that 3 percent ended in a full or partial conviction.

About three million Palestinians in the West Bank live under Israeli military rule, which offers them few, if any, guarantees of justice. In contrast, some 500,000 settlers in the territory have the legal rights of other Israeli citizens.

Khalil Hathaleen, 39, said the family’s hometown, Umm al-Khair, had been facing frequent attacks since his brother’s killing, including settlers throwing stones at villagers and their homes, and cutting down their olive trees.

In 2024, the Biden administration imposed sanctions on Mr. Levi after accusing him of intimidation and violence against Palestinians. About a year later, President Trump removed the penalties against Mr. Levi and other settlers accused of extremist violence.

Mr. Levi, whose outpost is known as a base for settler attacks, has been involved in running an earthworks company. On July 28, 2025, the day of Mr. Hathaleen’s death, Mr. Levi instructed a 17-year-old working for him to clear a new path through privately owned Palestinian land with an excavator and to continue even as Palestinian villagers hurled stones and attempted to block it, the indictment said.

Then Mr. Levi confronted some of the villagers before shooting a pistol in the direction of buildings in Umm al-Khair, the document said. The bullet hit Mr. Hathaleen, who was filming from the yard of a village community center approximately 20 yards away, the indictment added.

Witnesses said the sight of his death was harrowing.

“I saw Mr. Hathaleen lying in a pool of blood,” said Mattan Berner-Kadish, a 30-year-old American-Israeli activist who spent time in the village learning Arabic last summer and was present when the shooting happened.

Minutes later, Mr. Berner-Kadish said, he approached Mr. Levi and asked him if he was aware he had just killed someone.

“I’m happy I did,” Mr. Levi replied, according to Mr. Berner-Kadish.

Mr. Hajbi, the lawyer, did not respond to an additional request for comment about Mr. Berner-Kadish’s account.

Aaron Boxerman and Johnatan Reiss contributed reporting.