Body on Ashkelon beach identified as one of three missing brothers

Search for two additional men, missing since Thursday, continues

Illustrative photo of rescue and medical personnel at an Israeli beach (photo credit:  ZAKA/Flash90)
Illustrative photo of rescue and medical personnel at an Israeli beach (photo credit: ZAKA/Flash90)

A body found washed up on an Ashkelon beach Saturday morning was identified as 19-year-old Suliman Sariye, one of three brothers from the Bedouin town of Kseife who were swept off to sea and presumed drowned on Thursday.

Search crews hunting for the men discovered the body and sent it to the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute for identification.

Police said the hunt for the remaining brothers would continue until they were located.

Police forces aided by volunteers resumed the search for the missing men at daybreak, but as the hunt entered its third day, police expressed pessimism over the chances of finding them alive.

The search effort, bolstered by helicopters, divers and volunteers on jet skis and speedboats, was set to expand to the south and to the west in accordance with water currents. Land crews were set to search the coastline, in case any of the three managed to extract themselves from the sea and reach the shore.

The Sariye brothers — Nahed, 26, Suliman, and Ateff, 16 — were swept away by a powerful current while swimming at the coastal city’s Delilah Beach. Two other family members made it back to the shore, where they were treated by medics, after failing to rescue the three.

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Asher Zeiger contributed to this report

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