The Mossad spy agency and the Israel Defense Forces recovered the remains of Sgt. First Class Zvi Feldman, who went missing in the First Lebanon War’s battle of Sultan Yacoub in 1982, officials announced on Sunday.
The battle, nearly 43 years ago, was a skirmish between the IDF and the Syrian army in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley. It claimed the lives of 21 Israeli servicemen, and more than 30 were injured during it.
Feldman, a tank soldier, went missing during the battle along with Sgt. First Class Yehuda Katz and Sgt. First Class Zachary Baumel. Baumel’s remains were recovered and returned to Israel in 2019.
In a joint statement on Sunday, the Mossad and IDF said the body of Feldman was recovered from “the heart of Syria” in a special operation.
They said the “complex and covert operation” was made possible by “precise intelligence” and other capabilities, including “intelligence research and collection efforts and many activities and operations in enemy territory.”
No further details were provided on the operation itself, but the military said the efforts to locate the body had been ongoing for decades.
The remains were brought to Israel for identification, and Feldman’s family was then notified.
“For decades, Zvika was missing, and the efforts to locate him, along with the other missing soldiers from that same battle, never ceased for a moment,” Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said in a statement.
The Mossad, IDF, Netanyahu, and Defense Minister Israel Katz all said Israel would not stop its efforts until the remains of Katz are also returned.
“Just as we returned Zachary Baumel, and today Zvi Feldman, we continue to act in every way to also return Sgt. First Class Yehuda Katz and fulfill our duty for him and his family,” the defense minister said.
Baumel’s body was recovered with Russian assistance from the Yarmouk refugee camp, home to one of the largest Palestinian communities in Syria. In 2016, an Israeli tank lost in the battle was returned to Israel by Russia.
The IDF has been deployed to nine posts inside southern Syria since the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in December, mostly within a UN-patrolled buffer zone on the border between the countries.
Troops have been operating in areas up to around 15 kilometers (9miles) deep into Syria, aiming to capture weapons that Israel says could pose a threat to the country if they fall into the hands of “hostile forces.”