Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced on Tuesday the recovery of the remains of soldier Yehuda Katz, 44 years after his death and disappearance in the Sultan Yacoub battle during the 1982 Lebanon War. This marks the closure of the case of three Israeli soldiers whose fates remained unknown for decades following the battle.
Netanyahu stated that the Israeli Army and the Mossad, Israel's national intelligence agency, conducted a special operation to recover Katz's remains. However, the location where the remains were found, the timing of the operation, and its details were not disclosed.
With Katz’s remains recovered, Israel closes the file of the three soldiers missing since the Sultan Yacoub battle, known for its controversy and mystery during the 1982 Lebanon War.
The remains of soldier Zachary Baumel were returned to Israel in 2019 with Russian assistance. In May 2025, the Israeli army and Mossad announced the recovery of Zvi Feldman's remains from 'the heart of Syria' through a secret operation, leaving Katz as the last of the three missing.
Yehuda Nahman Katz was born in Ramat Gan in 1959 to parents who survived the Holocaust, and he was their youngest child. He received a religious education before joining the military in a program that combined religious studies and army service.
Katz served in the armored corps and was 22 years old when sent to Lebanon. According to Israeli media, he was only ten days away from completing his military service when he participated in the Sultan Yacoub battle on June 11, 1982.
The uncertainty surrounding his fate persisted for decades, with the Israeli military assuming his death during the battle, while his family clung to the hope he might have been captured.
The family’s belief was supported by testimonies and reports suggesting that Israeli soldiers might have been taken alive from the battlefield to Damascus, maintaining hope that Katz might be found alive or that definitive information about his fate would surface.
Katz's parents passed away without knowing what happened to their son, while family members, led by his sister, continued urging successive Israeli governments to search.
Following Bashar al-Assad's regime's fall, Katz’s sister expressed hope that Syria's changes could lead to new information revealing her brother’s fate.
The story of Katz’s disappearance began with the Sultan Yacoub battle in the Beqaa Valley on the night of June 10-11, 1982, between an Israeli armored force and the Syrian army, hours before a ceasefire took effect.
The Israeli force was heading towards a strategic junction leading to the Beirut-Damascus highway when it was caught in a low area and came under heavy Syrian fire.
The confrontation lasted about eight hours before the Israeli forces withdrew under artillery cover after suffering human and material losses, leaving several tanks and vehicles behind.
The confrontation reportedly resulted in about 20 Israeli soldiers killed, more than 30 injured, and six soldiers missing.
The fate of three missing soldiers later became known through prisoner exchanges, while Katz, Baumel, and Feldman remained missing, turning their case into a prolonged intelligence and political issue.
With Baumel's remains recovered in 2019 and Feldman’s in 2025, Katz was the last missing from the battle until Netanyahu announced the recovery of his remains 44 years later.
Israel has not yet revealed whether Katz's remains were found inside Syria or if the recent operation is linked to the intelligence operations that previously led to Feldman's remains recovery.
Thus, Israel draws the curtain on one of the longest-running missing persons cases tied to the 1982 Lebanon War, while the details of the latest operation and Katz’s remains' location remain classified.