Body found on Ashkelon beach

Divers, helicopters and jet skis utilized in search for three brothers missing since Thursday

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)

Rescue crews discovered a body on Saturday morning that they believe to be that of one of three brothers who were swept away from an Ashekelon beach on Thursday.

The body was transferred to the Abu Kabir Forensic Institute for identification.

Police forces aided by volunteers resumed the search for the 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, 19, and Ateff, 16 — residents of a Bedouin village in the south 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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