Remains of Last Missing Soldier from Sultan Yacoub Battle Located After 44 Years
After more than four decades of uncertainty, the IDF has announced that it has located the remains of Staff Sgt. Yehuda Katz HY”D, the last soldier still listed as missing from the 1982 Battle of Sultan Yacoub during the First Lebanon War. The discovery was made recently as part of an operational activity, and IDF representatives have informed Katz’s family of the findings • Read More
After more than four decades of uncertainty, the IDF has announced that it has located the remains of Staff Sgt. Yehuda Katz, Hy”d, the last soldier still listed as missing from the 1982 Battle of Sultan Yacoub during the First Lebanon War. The discovery was made recently as part of an operational activity, and IDF representatives have informed Katz’s family of the findings.
Former Deputy Defense Minister Rabbi Eli Ben-Dahan, who took part in the Battle of Sultan Yacoub, responded with emotion: “I feel chills this morning. The circle has been closed on the tremendous effort to save the armored battalion that was caught in a Syrian ambush. We leave no one behind.”
Katz was one of three soldiers from the battle whose fate remained unknown for decades. In 2019, the remains of Staff Sgt. Zachary Baumel HY”D, were returned to Israel. Last year, the remains of Staff Sgt. Zvi Feldman HY”D, were recovered from Syria. The latest discovery now closes the circle for Katz’s family as well.
The Battle of Sultan Yacoub, fought on June 11, 1982, during Operation Peace for Galilee, was one of the most difficult and complex battles in IDF history. Israeli forces sent to capture a strategic junction near the village of Sultan Yacoub were caught in an ambush by Syrian forces, amid operational confusion and instances of friendly fire.
Twenty IDF soldiers were killed in the battle, dozens were wounded, and six soldiers were initially declared missing. Over the years, the fate of three of them was determined: Zohar Lifshitz HY”D, who was killed and whose body was returned shortly after the war; Eric Lieberman, who was released from Syrian captivity; and Chezi Shai, who was freed as part of the Jibril prisoner exchange.
The three remaining missing soldiers—Baumel, Feldman and Katz—became a symbol of Israel’s decades-long efforts to locate and bring home its missing soldiers.
The discovery of Yehuda Katz’s remains brings an end to 44 years of painful uncertainty and marks a long-awaited closure for his family and for Israel, which continued intelligence and operational efforts throughout the decades to locate the missing soldiers of Sultan Yacoub.
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