The grave of Yosef Melamed, a Yemenite child whose parents immigrated to Israel when it was still Mandatory Palestine, was opened Wednesday morning. Upon opening the grave, located at Givatayim's Nahalat Yitzhak cemetery, it was discovered that the grave was not empty, and leg bones were removed for testing. Dr. Haim Cohen, a medical anthropologist, is continuing work at the site, hoping to reach the skull, from which it will be easier to take a genetic profile. Within weeks after this is done, it will be possible to know if the child buried at the site is indeed Yosef Melamed. Melamed was born in 1947 and at the age of 1.5 years, his mother took him to Hadassah Medical Center, where he was hospitalized. At the hospital, the staff instructed the mother to return in the morning, but upon her return she was told that the child had died and been buried. Years later, the mother, Shlomit, was surprised to receive a draft order for her son. Since then, she has been convinced that Yosef is still alive, and that he was given to another family for adoption. Related articles: Grave of girl to be opened in Netanya New committee to examine Yemenite Children Affair Israel to exhume remains of child tied to Yemenite children case Closure at last? Grave of missing Yemenite child to be exhumed The work to open the grave took several hours, and is being conducted under the supervision of the Health Ministry. If additional bones are found, they will be transferred to the Abu Kabir Institute of Forensic Medicine for further testing. Haaretz reported that before the grave was opened, a test was conducted in order to ensure that beneath the headstone was a single grave, and not more than that. The reason for this is because in May, when the grave of Uziel Khoury was opened , it became clear that two children were buried beneath the headstone, and the work was halted. This is the first time that use has been made of a law allowing the exhumation of graves of Yemenite children suspected of having been kidnapped. Nine other graves are also expected to be opened under the temporary law.
