The remains of Sgt. First Class Yehuda Katz, who disappeared during the 1982 Battle of Sultan Yacoub, have been located and identified, ending a 44-year search for the last missing Israeli soldier from the battle.
By David Brummer
The IDF has located and identified the remains of Sgt. First Class Yehuda Katz, the last Israeli soldier from the 1982 Battle of Sultan Yacoub whose fate remained unknown.
IDF representatives recently informed Katz’s family of the discovery, bringing an end to a 44-year search that began after one of the hardest-fought battles of the First Lebanon War.
The battle took place on June 11, 1982, during the sixth day of “Operation Peace for Galilee,” when Israeli forces clashed with Syrian troops near Sultan Yacoub in Lebanon.
The fighting lasted around eight hours and left 20 Israeli soldiers dead, dozens wounded and six soldiers missing. Katz was one of those left behind on the battlefield.
Three of the six missing soldiers remained unaccounted for over the years. The remains of Sgt. First Class Zachary Baumel were recovered and returned to Israel in 2019 following an operation known as Operation Song of Sorrow.
In May 2025, the remains of Sgt. First Class Zvi Feldman were recovered in a special operation in Syria.
Katz was the final soldier from the battle whose fate had not been resolved.
His identification brings to a conclusion one of the longest-running searches for an Israeli serviceman missing in action and allows his family to finally learn what happened to him more than four decades after he fell in battle.
