West Bank: Settlers force exhumation after funeral near Jenin

Locals linked the incident to broader tensions in the community following the settlement's re-entry and ongoing West Bank disputes.

Locals say that since Sa-Nur's re-establishment, much of the area including the cemetery has effectively been out of bounds for village residents, with settlers increasingly aggressive and openly carrying guns.

Hussein Asasa was eventually laid to rest by his sons in a small graveyard in a neighbouring village.

Locals described the incident in the context of Sa-Nur's re-establishment and the area being designated a closed military area, limiting access to olive groves, fields, and the cemetery.

The UN Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights condemned the incident as appalling and emblematic of the dehumanisation of Palestinians in the Occupied Territories.

The Israeli army said it intervened to confiscate digging tools from the settlers to prevent further tension.

The shrouded body of Hussein was carried away from the cemetery down the hill to relative safety under the settlers' watch.

Settlers warned the family they would exhume the body themselves unless it was removed, prompting the family to dig up the grave.

Less than half an hour after burial began, a group of Jewish settlers from the Sa-Nur settlement, some armed, arrived at the cemetery and began hacking at the newly laid grave.

In keeping with Islamic custom, Hussein was laid to rest in a simple plot in the village graveyard on May 1, 2026.

Hussein Asasa died of natural causes on Friday, May 1, 2026.

The New York Times reported that between the start of the US-Israeli war against Iran and the end of April, 13 Palestinians had been killed in settler attacks, hundreds injured, and many displaced.