In a harrowing incident in the West Bank village of Asasa, near Jenin, a family was forced to exhume the body of their recently deceased father just hours after his burial. Mohammed Asasa reported that after laying his 80-year-old father, Hussein, to rest according to Islamic custom, settlers from the reestablished Sa-Nur settlement approached the graveyard. The family had reportedly obtained permission from a nearby Israeli military base for the funeral to proceed peacefully.

Eyewitness accounts and mobile phone footage indicate that armed settlers arrived at the cemetery and began digging at the fresh grave with hand tools. When confronted, the settlers allegedly warned the family that they would exhume the body themselves if the family did not. Fearing the desecration of the remains, Mohammed and his brothers were compelled to carry out the exhumation under the watchful eyes of the armed settlers, relocating their father’s body to a different graveyard in a neighboring village.

The Israeli army stated it intervened to confiscate tools and de-escalate the situation. However, the Asasa family accused soldiers of standing by while they were forced to perform the distressing task. The incident has drawn condemnation from the UN human rights office, which described it as “appalling and emblematic of the dehumanisation of Palestinians.” This event occurs amidst a reported surge in settler-related violence in the West Bank, with human rights groups highlighting increased aggression and threats towards Palestinians, often involving weapons and reportedly emboldened by support from certain government elements.