Dozens of Israeli Druze snatched the body of Sheikh Abu Zain Al-Din Hassan Halabi from Ziv Hospital in Tzfat after he died from COVID-19 on Friday.

The “body-snatchers” were opposed to the plan for a restricted funeral for Halabi that the Israeli authorities were discussing with Druze leaders and were angered by the hospital’s plans to wrap the sheikh’s body in nylon as is standard for transferring a COVID-19 victim. They decided to take matters in their own hands – quite literally.

Although an Israel Police riot unit (Yasam) was present at the scene, the police officers stood by and didn’t try to prevent the Druze from entering the hospital and taking the body, although hospital security officers attempted to stop them.

תיעוד ממצלמות האבטחה במרכז הרפואי זיו: עשרות דרוזים מתפרצים לבית החולים כדי לקחת את גופת השיח', המאבטחים מנסים לעצור אותם והשוטרים אינם מתערבים@rubih67 pic.twitter.com/3Q4gz5hzYh

— כאן חדשות (@kann_news) October 30, 2020

The body was then brought to the sheikh’s hometown of Majdal Shams in the Golan, which is currently under lockdown due to having the highest virus infection rate in Israel, and a mass funeral was held in violation of coronavirus regulations.

The funeral was mostly attended by residents of the town but there were also participants from throughout the Galil, leading to concerns about a widespread virus outbreak in Druze communities throughout the north. Outgoing coronavirus czar Prof. Ronni Gamzu warned that anyone who attended the funeral should get tested for COVID-19.

Leaders of the Druze community condemned the incident, stressing that the leaders of the town, as well as the sheikh’s family members, were not involved in the incident at the hospital.

The Druze living in Majdal Shams and other areas of the Golan are Syrian in origin and are permanent residents of Israel but are not Israeli citizens, differing from Druze in other parts of Israel who are Israeli citizens and often serve in the IDF.

Gamzu also called to dramatically increase the number of tests performed in the Arab sector in Israel, where the infection rate has been surging, mostly due to large gatherings such as weddings.

“It is clear that there is a renewed outbreak in the Arab community,” he said. “We are catching it at the beginning. We were afraid of this and we see it happening now.”

The coronavirus cabinet on Friday extended the lockdown in Majdal Shams for another week and imposed a week-long lockdown on the northern Arab town of Bu’eine Nujeidat. Gamzu said that seven additional Arab localities with high infection rates may soon face lockdowns as well.

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)