After 43 Years, missing Israeli soldier's body found in ‘heart of Syria’
The Israeli army confirmed that the body of Sgt. Tzvika Feldman, missing for 43 years, was found in Syria and repatriated. He disappeared during the 1982 battle of Sultan Yacoub, alongside two other soldiers. Prime Minister Netanyahu praised the decades-long search efforts.
Israel: It has been 43 years since a soldier went missing. On Sunday, May 11, the Israeli army said that the missing soldier's body was found in the "heart of Syria" and repatriated in a special operation with the Mossad intelligence agency.
"In a special operation led by the IDF (military) and Mossad, the body of Sgt. First Class Tzvika Feldman was found in the heart of Syria and brought back to Israel," the army said in a statement, reported AFP.
How did the soldier go missing?
Feldman went missing along with two other soldiers in the 1982 battle of Sultan Yacoub that pitted Israeli and Syrian forces against each other in the Bekaa region of eastern Lebanon, near the border with Syria.
As per the Israel army, Tzvika Feldman's body had been identified by the Genomic Identification Center for Fallen Soldiers of the Military Rabbinate. The army's statement, however, had very little details of how his remains were located deep inside Syria.
Who was Tzvika Feldman?
Tzvika Feldman was a tank soldier in the Israel army, and went missing during the battle along with Sgt. First Class Yehuda Katz and Sgt. First Class Zachary Baumel.
The clash was a confrontation between the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) and the Syrian army in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley, resulting in the deaths of 21 Israeli soldiers and injuries to over 30 others.
The remains of one of the fallen, Zachary Baumel, were recovered and brought back to Israel in 2019, as per The Times of Israel.
"The return of Sgt. Feldman was made possible through a complex and covert operation, enabled by precise intelligence and the use of operational capabilities that demonstrated ingenuity and courage," the statement said.
In a separate statement, Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu praised the efforts to locate Feldman's body, noting that the search for him and his comrades – Zachariah Baumel and Yehuda Katz – had been ongoing for decades.
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