A Palestinian family in the West Bank reports they were forced to dig up their elderly father’s remains after Israeli settlers confronted them at a village cemetery, demanding the body be removed from what they claimed was settlement land.
Mohammed Asasa says his 80-year-old father Hussein died of natural causes on Friday and was laid to rest that same evening in the cemetery of Asasa village, located near Jenin. The burial proceeded with all required permits from Israeli military authorities, who were present during the ceremony.
However, the family received an urgent call from villagers shortly after the funeral, informing them that settlers had arrived at the gravesite and were demanding the grave be excavated.
“They said the land was for settlement and that burial was not allowed. We told them that this is the village’s cemetery, not part of the settlement,” Mohammed Asasa explained.
When the settlers threatened to use heavy machinery to dig up the grave, the family made the difficult decision to remove their father’s body themselves, according to Asasa.
“We found that they already dug the grave and reached the body,” he stated. “We continued digging and got the body and buried him in another cemetery.”
Social media footage appears to document the disturbing scene, showing settlers observing as individuals excavate a hillside grave. The video then captures people carrying what appears to be human remains while Israeli soldiers follow behind. Reuters confirmed the footage was recorded in Asasa.
Israeli military officials acknowledged that the funeral had been properly coordinated with their forces and stated they never instructed the family to relocate the burial. Troops were dispatched to the location after receiving reports of a confrontation involving settlers who were “digging in the area.”
“The soldiers confiscated digging tools from the Israeli civilians and remained at the location in order to prevent further friction,” military representatives said, adding their condemnation of actions that violate the “dignity of the living and the deceased.”
The United Nations Human Rights Office strongly criticized the incident.
“This is appalling and emblematic of the dehumanisation of Palestinians that we see unfolding across the OPT (Occupied Palestinian Territories). It spares no one, dead or alive,” declared Ajith Sunghay, who leads the OHCHR Palestinian office.
Attempts to contact settlers from the adjacent Sa-Nur settlement were unsuccessful.
Sa-Nur was among 19 settlements dismantled during Israel’s 2005 disengagement plan, which also involved removing settlers and military forces from Gaza.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration authorized Sa-Nur’s reconstruction one year ago, and building activity has progressed quickly, according to Peace Now, an organization that monitors Israeli settlement activity.
The West Bank represents territory that Palestinians hope will become part of a future independent state. Israel justifies its presence there based on historical and biblical connections to the region, along with security considerations.
Netanyahu’s current government, which firmly rejects Palestinian statehood, has been expanding settlement construction while increasing settler violence against Palestinians has prompted international concern.
The United Nations and most nations consider Israeli settlements on West Bank territory seized during the 1967 conflict to be illegal under international law, though Israel challenges this interpretation.
