Settlers forced reburial of Palestinian in West Bank, family says

Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank forced Palestinians to dig up their father's body from his freshly dug grave, his family says

Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank forced Palestinians to dig up their father's body from his freshly dug grave in his village, the family said, near a settlement that was reestablished by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government.

Hussein Asasa, 80, died of natural causes on Friday and was buried that evening in a cemetery in the village of Asasa near Jenin, with all necessary permits from the Israeli army, whose forces were on site, said his son Mohammed.

However, shortly after the funeral, the family was called by some locals who said that settlers were at the grave and were ordering the grave to be dug up.

"They said the land was for settlement and burials were not allowed. We told them this was the village cemetery, not part of the settlement," Asasa said.

The settlers then threatened to dig up the grave with an excavator, Asasa said, so the family decided to dig up their father's body themselves.

"We discovered that they had already dug up the grave and found the body," Asasa said. "We continued digging, took out the body and reburied it in another cemetery," he added.

VIDEO SHOWS PEOPLE TAKING A BODY

A video circulating on social media shows settlers watching as people dig in the ground on a hillside. They then carry what appears to be a body as Israeli troops follow them. Reuters confirmed the location as Asasa.

The Israeli military said the burial was coordinated with them and that they did not order the family to rebury their father. Soldiers were sent to the scene after reports of a clash with settlers who were “digging in the area,” the military said.

"Soldiers confiscated digging tools from Israeli civilians and remained at the site to prevent further conflict," the army said, adding that it condemned actions that violate "the dignity of the living and the dead."

The UN Human Rights Office condemned the incident.

"This is horrific and symbolic of the dehumanization of Palestinians that we see unfolding across the OPT (Occupied Palestinian Territory). It spares no one, dead or alive," said Ajit Sungei, head of the OHCHR office for Palestine.

Reuters could not reach settlers from the nearby Sa-Nur settlement for comment.

Sa-Nur was one of 19 settlements evacuated under Israel's 2005 disengagement plan, which also included the withdrawal of Israeli settlers and troops from Gaza.

Netanyahu's government approved the reestablishment of Sa-Nur a year ago, and construction is progressing rapidly, according to Peace Now, an Israeli organization that monitors settlements.

The West Bank is one of the territories that the Palestinians seek for their independent state. Israel invokes historical and biblical ties to the territories, as well as security needs.

The Netanyahu government, which strongly opposes the establishment of a Palestinian state, is accelerating settlement construction, while an increase in settler attacks on Palestinians is causing international concern.

The United Nations and most countries consider Israeli settlements on West Bank land captured during the 1967 war to be illegal, a view that Israel disputes.