West Bank Settlers Force Man to Dig Up His Father’s Body Hours After Burial – UN Calls It “Appalling”

Israeli settlers in the occupied West Bank forced a Palestinian man to exhume his father’s body just hours after the funeral, according to the United Nations human rights office. The UN condemned the act as “appalling and emblematic of the dehumanisation of Palestinians.” Separately, a Palestinian activist says settler attacks on villages are systematic, occurring with what he describes as “full military support.”

The UN reported that the father had been buried earlier that day when settlers arrived at the cemetery. They demanded the body be dug up, and the man complied under duress. The body was then removed. The UN called for an investigation, stating the actions violate international law and basic human dignity [145741].

In a related account, Palestinian human rights activist Eid Hathaleen said settler violence in villages like his own Umm al-Khair is not random but calculated to force Palestinians off their land. He told a journalist that schoolchildren and other civilians are deliberately targeted, and that the attacks occur with the “full support of the military” [145862].

The UN has not yet specified the motive for the exhumation or the current location of the body.