By Desire Tshuma
By Desire Tshuma
RAMALLAH — The Palestinian envoy to Zimbabwe has accused Israeli settlers of forcing a Palestinian family to exhume their 80-year-old father from his grave in the occupied West Bank, calling it evidence that “neither the living nor the dead” are spared in the escalating violence.
Ambassador Tamer Almassri said the incident involving Hussein Asasa occurred in the family’s own village despite them holding all the required permits. He described the act as “a harrowing act of barbarity” and “a clear example of the extreme measures that Israeli settlers are willing to take to assert their dominance.”
“This heinous act is a stark reminder of the systematic dehumanization of Palestinians that is unfolding across the Occupied Palestinian Territories,” Almassri said in a statement.
The envoy linked the alleged desecration to a broader surge in settler violence since October 2023. He said at least 13 Palestinians had been killed in a single month, with hundreds injured and many more driven from their homes. He accused Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s government of accelerating illegal settlement building and empowering settlers and soldiers to use force against Palestinians.
Almassri also updated casualty figures for Gaza, stating that 72,740 people had been killed and 172,192 wounded since late 2023, with over 12,000 still believed buried under rubble.
Those numbers closely match data released by the Palestine Liberation Organization Department of Refugee Affairs earlier this month, which reported 72,610 fatalities and 172,484 injuries in Gaza. The PLO report said most victims were women and children, and listed 1.9 million people displaced, 437,600 housing units damaged or destroyed, and 34 hospitals and medical centers destroyed.
“The international community has a moral obligation to condemn the Israeli government’s actions and to hold them accountable for their crimes,” Almassri said, calling on the United Nations and other bodies to take a stronger stance.
The Israeli government and military had not commented on the specific allegation involving Hussein Asasa at the time of going to print. Israeli officials have previously said they investigate reports of settler violence and enforce Israeli law in the West Bank.
The West Bank and Gaza have seen a sharp rise in violence and casualties since October 2023, according to the UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and both Palestinian and Israeli human rights organizations.
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