RAMALLAH, West Bank (AP) — A Palestinian family describes being forced by Israeli settlers to dig up their elderly father’s freshly buried remains from their village cemetery in the northern West Bank, with settlers claiming the grave site was positioned too near a recently government-approved settlement.
According to Mohammed Asasa, his family had properly coordinated with Israeli military officials before burying his 80-year-old father Hussein in the cemetery of their village, which shares the Asasa name. The family says their ancestors have been laid to rest in this clearly designated burial ground for generations.
Last Friday’s confrontation demonstrates the growing power that extremist settlers have accumulated over the last four years under Israel’s present administration, as well as the military’s failure or reluctance to stop settler aggression and land grabs.
Asasa explained that following the funeral service, armed individuals from the neighboring Sa-Nur settlement appeared and demanded the family remove the body, asserting the territory belonged to their settlement located less than half a kilometer away.
“While we were receiving condolences at home, some young men from the village came running and told us that the settlers were digging at the grave we had just buried at the cemetery,” he said. “When we reached the cemetery we found it filled with settlers and the army surrounded by them.”
The villagers chose to remove the remains themselves after settlers made threats to excavate the grave using bulldozer equipment. Video footage captured them transporting the body away from the cemetery under military supervision, while apparent settlers watched from higher ground.
“This had never happened before,” he said. “You have no other choice.”
Israeli military officials stated that troops responded to reports of confrontations at the location and seized digging equipment from settlers. The army maintained they did not compel the family to relocate the remains, but provided protection during the transfer to another nearby cemetery. Military sources did not indicate whether any arrests were made.
Sa-Nur was evacuated by Israel in 2005, though settlers opposing that evacuation have worked for years attempting to rebuild it as an unauthorized outpost. Israel gave new authorization to the settlement in 2025 and formally reopened it last month with an official ceremony featuring multiple government ministers. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s current administration includes numerous settler movement leaders and supporters.
Palestinian authorities and most international observers view all West Bank settlements in occupied territory as violations of international law and barriers to achieving peace, though Israel challenges these characterizations.
President Donald Trump’s current administration has cultivated close relationships with settler representatives, marking a departure from previous U.S. policies.
Asasa expressed uncertainty about future burial arrangements following these events. “Are we going to go around the neighboring villages asking for a place to bury them?” he asked.
In a separate incident, Israeli forces fatally shot a Palestinian man on Monday whom police described as carrying a rifle near a refugee school on Jerusalem’s outskirts.
Police reported the man was killed after stepping out of his vehicle while holding a military-style weapon. The Palestinian Health Ministry in Ramallah identified the victim as 30-year-old Ayman Al-Hashlamoun from Kufr Aqab in northern Jerusalem. Officials said his remains are being held by Israeli authorities.
The shooting occurred outside a United Nations Relief and Works Agency school in Kufr Aqab, close to the Qalandia refugee camp, during a period of increased violence throughout the occupied West Bank as Israel approves additional settlements and modifies administrative policies for areas under its jurisdiction.
United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs data shows at least 45 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli forces or settlers as of May 3.
