Israel refused to bring back for burial the body of a Palestinian resident who was found dead in the Ukraine on Saturday, claiming − falsely − that his residency had been revoked, his family told Haaretz this week.

Rafa Zarzur, a Palestinian resident of Israel who was studying medicine in Kiev, Ukraine was found dead by the Ukrainian police. Some two months ago, when Zarzur wanted to return to Israel after graduation, he was refused an entrance visa by the Israeli consulate and told that his residency had expired, his family and attorney Adi Lustigman said.

Both the interior and foreign ministries told Haaretz that Zarzur’s permanent residency had not been revoked or expired, and that there is no change in his status in the state’s Population Registry.

About two weeks ago Zarzur’s family lost touch with him and the Foreign Ministry refused to help them search for him, saying he was no longer an Israeli resident. Even after his body was found on Saturday, the ministry refused the family’s request for assistance in returning it to Israel for burial.

Only four days ago, after Haaretz had queried the matter with the Foreign Ministry, did the family discover that no change had occurred in Zarzur’s status and his residency is still valid.

The Zarzur family, originally from the territories, was granted Israeli residency many years ago. Rafa Zarzur traveled to Ukraine in 2001 to study medicine. After graduating recently, he lost his student status in Ukraine and intended to return to Israel.

But when he went to the Israeli consulate in Kiev to renew his travel pass, he was told his residency had expired. Residency may be revoked if the person holding it fails to maintain continuous contact with Israel, but Zarzur made sure to visit Israel every year to maintain his status, his family said.

Also, contrary to procedure, Zarzur said he had not been warned that his residency was about to expire and was not given a chance to make a case against it.

Fearing he was about to be deported from Ukraine and believing he was without Israeli residency, Zarzur thought he had been left with no legal status. His family contracted attorney Lustigman to represent him and ask the Interior Ministry to reinstate his status.

Since he was abroad, he was required to produce a “consular power of attorney” so that Lustigman could represent him. But the consulate sent him away repeatedly, claiming he had no status in Israel and therefore they could not give him a power of attorney declaration.

“Every time he went there they sent him away and finally they told him: ‘Tell me, are you an idiot? Don’t come here anymore and don’t call,’” Zarzur’s brother Adal told Haaretz.

Lustigman asked the interior and foreign ministries about Zarzur case, but was told that without a power of attorney declaration they could not answer her queries.

On April 9 Lustigman asked for the Foreign Ministry’s assistance in an urgent letter. Only this week, almost three weeks later, did she receive an answer that Zarzur is not known to the consulate in Kiev at all.

On Sunday this week Zarzur’s family was notified by the Ukrainian police that his body had been found in the city mutilated and in a state of decomposition. They were told he had been shot to death a few days earlier, presumably during a robbery.

The family asked the Foreign Ministry again for assistance, this time in bringing Zarzur’s body home for burial. Again they were denied. The ministry suggested the family transfer the body via Jordan and the Allenby Bridge, although that border pass is intended for Palestinian citizens − and Zarzur was not a Palestinian citizen.

“He was afraid to be deported from Ukraine and wanted to come home, but they wouldn’t let him,” Adal said. “Now they say it’s impossible to bring back his body. It’s been lying there for 10 days and all this time [the Ukrainian authorities] keep calling us and threatening they’ll bury him in some wadi,” he said.

The Foreign Ministry said in response: “Zarzur’s permanent residency status has not been revoked. In any case, a legal battle of any kind must be conducted through a lawyer and the relevant authorities in Israel, not in the consulate, which has no authority in this matter. The claims of being treated inappropriately at the consulate are being examined.”

“The Foreign Ministry has been in touch with the family and is dealing with bringing the body back and helping with the burial arrangement in a place of the family’s choosing,” the statement said.

The Interior Ministry said: “An examination of the Population Registration shows that Mr. Zarzur has permanent residency. This residency has not expired and nothing has been said in the matter to Mr. Zarzur.”