Published : 07-02-2021
The Russian military and Syrian regime have recently launched excavations in a cemetery at the Yarmouk Refugee Camp in Damascus allegedly in search of the remains of Israeli soldiers who went missing during the First Lebanon War in 1982, Israeli news reported, citing Syrian media.
The reports indicated that Russian troops began excavating the site on February 4, presumably searching for DNA samples from grave plots on the site suspected of belonging to Israeli soldiers who have been missing for nearly 40 years.
The reports indicated that the Russians had brought in a medical truck equipped with advanced tools for analyzing DNA, while closing the entire area of the cemetery and declaring it a closed military zone.
The missing soldiers are Tzvi Feldman and Yehuda Katz, who participated in the First Lebanon War and have been considered missing in action since 1982.
Feldman and Katz were members of late Zechariah Baumel's military unit and fought together in the Battle of Sultan Yacub between Israel and Syria in June 1982. The battle took place in Lebanon, near the Syrian border.
Following the battle that lasted several hours, six soldiers were declared missing in action. Later, it became clear that two of the six were captured by the Syrian army and one was killed in action. The fate of the other three – Feldman, Katz and Baumel – remained unknown.
That changed in April 2019, when the body of Sgt. Zachary Baumel was finally returned to Israel after nearly 37 years. He was identified by his DNA at the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute and buried in special ceremony on Mount Herzl attended by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin.
Over recent years, activists have slammed the Russian and Syrian government forces for ransacking the old cemetery of Yarmouk Camp, in Damascus, in search of the body remains of Israeli soldiers killed in the Battle of Sultan Yaakoob in Lebanon in 1982.
On April 19, 2018, a military operation launched by Syria’s government battalions and their Russian abettors led to the destruction of 60% of civilian buildings and premises in Yarmouk Camp. Dozens of civilians were killed and hundreds injured in the offensive.
Heavy damage was wrought on Yarmouk’s AlShuhadaa Cemetery as graves were hit with barrel bombs and headstones smashed by missiles and mortar shells.
The Russian military and Syrian regime have recently launched excavations in a cemetery at the Yarmouk Refugee Camp in Damascus allegedly in search of the remains of Israeli soldiers who went missing during the First Lebanon War in 1982, Israeli news reported, citing Syrian media.
The reports indicated that Russian troops began excavating the site on February 4, presumably searching for DNA samples from grave plots on the site suspected of belonging to Israeli soldiers who have been missing for nearly 40 years.
The reports indicated that the Russians had brought in a medical truck equipped with advanced tools for analyzing DNA, while closing the entire area of the cemetery and declaring it a closed military zone.
The missing soldiers are Tzvi Feldman and Yehuda Katz, who participated in the First Lebanon War and have been considered missing in action since 1982.
Feldman and Katz were members of late Zechariah Baumel's military unit and fought together in the Battle of Sultan Yacub between Israel and Syria in June 1982. The battle took place in Lebanon, near the Syrian border.
Following the battle that lasted several hours, six soldiers were declared missing in action. Later, it became clear that two of the six were captured by the Syrian army and one was killed in action. The fate of the other three – Feldman, Katz and Baumel – remained unknown.
That changed in April 2019, when the body of Sgt. Zachary Baumel was finally returned to Israel after nearly 37 years. He was identified by his DNA at the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute and buried in special ceremony on Mount Herzl attended by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and President Reuven Rivlin.
Over recent years, activists have slammed the Russian and Syrian government forces for ransacking the old cemetery of Yarmouk Camp, in Damascus, in search of the body remains of Israeli soldiers killed in the Battle of Sultan Yaakoob in Lebanon in 1982.
On April 19, 2018, a military operation launched by Syria’s government battalions and their Russian abettors led to the destruction of 60% of civilian buildings and premises in Yarmouk Camp. Dozens of civilians were killed and hundreds injured in the offensive.
Heavy damage was wrought on Yarmouk’s AlShuhadaa Cemetery as graves were hit with barrel bombs and headstones smashed by missiles and mortar shells.
