Document Written by Arafat Helped Israel Recover Body of Israeli Soldier Missing for 43 Years

Asharq Al-Awsat

12-05-2025

The body of Israeli soldier Tzvi Feldman, who went missing since the Battle of Sultan Yacoub between Israel and Syria in June 1982, have been returned to Israel in a special operation carried out by commando forces after the collapse of Bashar al-Assad's regime, Israeli reports said on Sunday.
During the operation, Israeli warplanes carried out intensive raids on several locations around the place to protect the forces and hide their traces.
Military sources in Tel Aviv said that the mission was conducted months ago, enabled by old intelligence and advanced operational capabilities.
However, the sources added, non-Israeli agents, operating on behalf of the Mossad, had a cover story and had been inside Syria for several years to collect information on the location of Feldman's body.
In the past five months, following the fall of Assad regime, the agents operated 'under fire' and visited a graveyard several times, obtaining various findings that were sent to Israel for identification.
When findings matched Feldman's DNA, the Israeli team recovered the full body and brought it home.
According to Army Radio, the operation lasted for months, with the final identification of the body coming over the past weekend.
Al-Sharaa Government Not Involved in Operation
Sources said that following the fall of Assad regime, there were breakthroughs in Feldman's case and an opportunity to recover his remains.
Although the Israeli operation was conducted under the new Syrian government led by Ahmed al-Sharaa, the latter was not involved in the operation, they said.
Security officials emphasized that the operation didn't involve any cooperation by the new Syrian government, denying recent reports of indirect talks between Israel and al-Sharaa in this regard.
The sources said that intelligence that helped carry out the operation were completely separate from efforts related to Hamas' abduction of Israeli prisoners in the Gaza Strip.
They said the massive efforts to find the hundreds of Israelis who were abducted by Hamas on Oct. 7 were concentrated in a newly established Abductees Command under retired Maj.-Gen. Nitzan Alon, allowing the Repatriation Department to continue its work behind the scenes, even during the war.
Other sources in Tel Aviv said information about the fate of Israeli soldiers who were missing in the Battle of Sultan Yacoub during the 1982 Israeli invasion of Lebanon, were uncovered in July 2021. At the time, the Israeli intelligence discovered a secret document written by late Palestinian president, Yasser Arafat, who referred to the presence of three graves located in the cemetery of the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp on the outskirts of the Syrian capital Damascus.
The Walla website showed a copy of the document that it said was provided by a 'non-Israeli' source, and written more than 20 years ago.
The document is a handwritten note on an official paper from the Palestinian Authority presidential office. The source claimed the document was written by Yasser Arafat.
The letter did not specify whether the graves belonged to the Israeli soldiers killed in the Battle of Sultan Yacoub, however, it included a detailed map of three graves in the Yarmouk camp, where members of the PLO factions were buried after 1980.
When the document was uncovered in 2021, Israel asked for Russia's assistance to identify whether the location included the bodies of its missing soldiers, particularly that in 2019, Moscow had helped Netanyahu recover the body of Zachary Baumel from the Yarmouk refugee camp.
On Sunday, Netanyahu tried to benefit from the recovery of Feldman's body. He personally visited his family in Tel Aviv, accompanied by his military secretary and the coordinator for hostages and missing persons, to deliver the news.
'For decades, Tzvi was listed as missing, and the efforts to locate him—alongside the other soldiers missing from that battle—never ceased. Six years ago, we brought back Staff Sergent Zachary Baumel for burial in Israel. Today, we bring back Tzvi. We will not stop until we bring home Staff Sgt. Yehuda Katz, who is still missing from that same battle.'
The prime minister then extended his gratitude to 'the Mossad, the Israeli Army, the Shin Bet, and Hostage and Missing Persons Coordinator Gal Hirsch for their decades of dedicated, determined and courageous efforts to bring Tzvi home—and to return all of our missing and captive, living and fallen alike.'
He said, 'Israel and my government are fully committed to this mission.'
Israeli Paratroopers
Meanwhile, the Israeli Army announced on Sunday that after five months of operational activity in the Golan Heights and Syria, soldiers of the Paratroopers Brigade have completed their mission on the northern border.
It said the troops are now preparing, as part of the 98th Division, for additional missions in the Gaza Strip ahead of the effort to expand the operations in the area.
'In the coming days, the Paratroopers Brigade will be replaced by reserve troops, who will continue their activity in Syria,' the statement said, adding that the Army will continue to operate across all arenas in order to protect the citizens of Israel.