Key facts
- Israel returned the remains of Staff Sergeant Tzvika Feldman, killed in 1982 in Lebanon.
- The recovery operation took place inside Syrian territory.
- Feldman went missing during the Battle of Sultan Yacoub in Lebanon's Bekaa Valley.
- The Israeli army and Mossad jointly announced the recovery.
- Israel is still searching for other missing soldiers, including Ron Arad and Guy Hever.
Israel has recovered the remains of Staff Sergeant Tzvika Feldman, an Israeli soldier who was killed in 1982 during the Battle of Sultan Yacoub in eastern Lebanon. The recovery was carried out through a "special operation" conducted deep inside Syrian territory, according to a joint statement released by the Israeli army and the Mossad intelligence agency.
Feldman was among three soldiers who went missing following the 1982 battle, which occurred during Israel's large-scale invasion of Lebanon. During this conflict, Israeli forces engaged Syrian troops in Lebanon's eastern Bekaa Valley.
The announcement comes amid heightened Israeli military activity in the Golan Heights, a territory Israel captured from Syria in 1967 and annexed in 1981. This annexation is not internationally recognized, with the exception of the United States.
The Israeli army is continuing its efforts to locate the remains of other missing soldiers. These include airman Ron Arad, who was captured in Lebanon in 1986, and Guy Hever, who disappeared in the Golan in 1997. In 2019, Israel had previously recovered the remains of Battalion Commander Zachary Baumel, who also went missing in the same 1982 battle. The whereabouts of the third missing soldier from that battle, Yehuda Katz, remain unknown.
Separately, the Lebanese army stated on Wednesday that it received the body of soldier Patrick Bakarian, who had been killed and his remains withheld by Israeli forces since April 19.