IDF and Mossad Recover Personal Effects of Missing Soldier Yehuda Katz After 44 Years

After 44 years, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) located personal items belonging to Yehuda Katz, a soldier missing since the 1982 Lebanon War. The items were recovered during a special overnight operation based on intelligence from the IDF Intelligence Directorate and were handed over to Katz's family for examination. Katz was declared missing on June 11, 1982, during the Battle of Sultan Yaakov in the Lebanon Valley, part of Operation Peace for Galilee. He was the last of three soldiers missing from that battle whose fate remained unknown.

The remains of Katz's tank comrade, Zechariah Baumel, were returned in April 2019, and the body of another soldier, Zvi Feldman, was recovered in a secret Mossad operation in May 2025. Avi Rat, who fought alongside Katz, described the return of the items as a painful but necessary closure, saying it lifts doubts but also carries great sorrow. Katz's family had long contested his missing status, with his sister Fraya Heyman-Katz questioning why Katz's fate remained unclear despite the tank being in enemy hands and the commander having been returned by Syrian forces.

Following the battle, 20 IDF soldiers were killed, dozens wounded, and six declared missing. Over time, the fates of three missing soldiers were clarified: Zohar Lifshitz, whose body was returned after the war; Arik Lieberman, released from Syrian captivity; and Chazi Shay, freed in the Jibril prisoner exchange deal.