Tensions mount as Israel withholds body of Palestinian man killed by settler PHOTO/VIDEO

Tensions remain high in the southern West Bank village of Umm al-Khair as Israeli police continue to withhold the body of Awdah Hathaleen, a Palestinian man who was shot and killed by an Israeli settler earlier this week.

Despite the completion of an autopsy on July 30, authorities have refused to release Hathaleen’s body to his family, citing strict conditions for the funeral arrangements, Caliber.Az reports, citing Israeli media.

According to local sources, the Israeli police have presented a series of demands before consenting to return the body. These include prohibiting the family from erecting a traditional mourning tent near their home and limiting the number of mourners at the funeral to just 15 people—an unusually restrictive measure in a region where funerals often draw large crowds.

The Hathaleen family has rejected the conditions, calling them both unjust and deeply disrespectful to cultural and religious practices.

Well-known Palestinian activist Awdah Hathaleen, a consultant for the Oscar-winning documentary "No Other Land," was shot and killed in the occupied West Bank by an Israeli settler on July 28.

The Israeli army said in a statement that "terrorists hurled rocks toward Israeli civilians near Carmel," an Israeli settlement near the village of Umm al-Khair.

The military said that an armed civilian then fired towards those throwing rocks, adding that the army was aware of reports of unspecified injuries to individuals and had transferred the incident to the police.

The police said it had launched an investigation that was in its "early stages" and that an Israeli individual had been detained.

"Additionally, four Palestinians were arrested by IDF soldiers for their involvement in the incident, as well as two foreign tourists who were present at the site," the police said in a statement.

By Vafa Guliyeva