IDF Confirms Discovery of Remains of Last Missing Soldier from 1982 Sultan Yaakov Battle

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) have informed the family of Yehuda Katz that remains identified as his have been found, nearly a year after the recovery of another missing soldier from the 1982 Sultan Yaakov battle, Zvi Feldman. Katz was the last soldier officially classified as missing from the battle, which took place on June 11, 1982, near the Sultan Yaakov crossroads in the Bekaa Valley, Lebanon, during the Lebanon War. This discovery concludes a long-standing military and intelligence effort to locate the missing soldiers from that engagement.

Previously, in 2019, the body of another missing soldier, Zecharia Baumel, was returned to Israel through Russian mediation. In 2025, Zvi Feldman’s remains were repatriated in a covert Mossad operation. Katz, Baumel, and Feldman were all declared missing following the battle. Their families have persistently sought information about their fate over the decades.

In 2004, then-Chief Military Rabbi Israel Weiss ruled that the three missing soldiers should be declared fallen with unknown burial sites. However, the families contested this declaration, leading to its cancellation. The recent identification of Katz’s remains marks a significant development in resolving the fate of the last missing soldier from Sultan Yaakov.