Body of Sgt. First Class Zvi Feldman recovered from ‘the heart of Syria,’ IDF and Mossad say

By Emanuel Fabian

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11 May 2025, 10:48 am

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Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent

Zvi Feldman (The International Coalition for Missing Israeli Soldiers)

The IDF and Mossad says the remains of Sgt. First Class Zvi Feldman were recovered from “the heart of Syria” in a special operation, nearly 43 years after he went missing alongside two other soldiers in a battle in Lebanon’s Beqaa Valley.

In a joint statement, the military and Mossad say the “complex and covert operation” was made possible by “precise intelligence” and other capabilities.

The body of another soldier killed in the 1982 battle of Sultan Yacoub, Sgt. First Class Zachary Baumel, was recovered in 2019 with Russian assistance from the Yarmouk refugee camp, home to one of the largest Palestinian refugee communities in Syria.