Empty graves shelter illegal Palestinians

Police in central Israel uncovered seven Palestinians illegally sleeping in unoccupied graves in a local cemetery on Sunday.

The men were escaping a rainstorm by hiding out in the city’s new “tower” for the dead, an above-ground cemetery building. They were detained by police and taken in for questioning, according to the Ynet news outlet.

Israeli police have arrested dozens of Palestinians in Israel without permits in recent weeks in an effort to crack down on the phenomenon of illegal entry, amid an upsurge in terrorist attacks.

The central Israel city’s new vertical cemetery is an effort to combat overcrowding.

After some initial hesitations, and rabbinical rulings that made the practice kosher, Israel’s ultra-Orthodox burial societies have embraced the concept as the most effective Jewish practice in an era when most of the cemeteries in major population centers are packed full.

“The source of all this is that there is simply no room,” said Tuvia Sagiv, an architect who specializes in dense burial design. “It’s unreasonable that we will live one on top of the other in tall apartment buildings and then die in villas. If we have already agreed to live one on top of the other, then we can die one on top of the other.”

Aside from those who have already purchased their future plots, individual outdoor graves are no longer offered to the families of the more than 35,000 Israelis who die each year.

AP contributed to this report.