Israeli settlers force Palestinian family to exhume and rebury their father

Key developments are emerging from the global stage. Middle East Israeli settlers force Palestinian family to exhume and rebury their father May 10, 20267:26 PM ET By Ruth Sherlock , Nuha Musleh The Sa-Nur settlement is pictured in the south of Jenin, in the Israeli-occupied West Bank on May 7. Nearby, Israeli settlers dug up the grave of an elderly Palestinian man and forced his family to remove his body. Ilia Yefimovich/ via Getty Images hide caption toggle caption Ilia Yefimovich/ via Getty Images RAMALLAH, West Bank — Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank dug up the grave of an elderly Palestinian man on Friday and forced his family to remove his body from the cemetery where he had been laid to rest.

The United Nations Human Rights Office for the occupied Palestinian territory called the incident a "despicable" example of the "new level of dehumanization of Palestinians that is happening in the occupied West Bank. " A video filmed at the scene shows the relatives of deceased Hussein Asasa quickly carrying his body — wrapped in a white shroud — away from the cemetery, where settlers, armed with weapons and spades, had opened his grave. Sponsor Message Middle East Radical Israeli settlers have stepped up attacks on Palestinians in the West Bank "The settlers told us: 'Either you take the dead body away right now or we'll use a bulldozer to remove him from the grave and dump him for you,'" Mohammed Asasa said of the attack on his father's burial site.

The Details

He spoke with NPR by phone from a tent outside his home, where he was receiving mourners who had come to pay their respects. Asasa said his family has buried their dead in the cemetery of Asasa village, located south of Jenin in the occupied West Bank, for generations. World Israeli soldiers fire on family car in occupied West Bank, killing 4 Then last year Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's government decided to allow the return of a settlement to the area that had been evacuated under an Israeli disengagement plan in 2005.

Now Israelis live in a settlement called Sa-Nur, located some 300 meters from the Asasa village cemetery. When the settlers returned, Asasa said his family was told they would now need to obtain permits from the Israeli military to access the cemetery if they wanted to visit their relatives' graves or bury their dead. So, when Hussein Asasa died, that's what the family did.

The elder Asasa was about 85 years old, according to his son. The Israeli military confirmed to NPR that the Asasas had coordinated the burial in advance with security forces. Sponsor Message Middle East conflict Mirroring Gaza, Israel is destroying towns and villages in southern Lebanon Asasa said the family was given 30 minutes on Friday to lay his father to rest.

He said the settlers protested, saying the grave was too close to the settlement. And throughout the funeral the settlers "shouted and heckled. " "We buried my father and went away," he said.

The development has drawn wide international attention, with diplomatic circles watching closely.