The IDF confirmed Tuesday that the remains of Staff Sgt. Yehuda Yekutiel Katz, who had been missing since the Battle of Sultan Yacoub in the First Lebanon War, were returned to Israel and formally identified, 44 years after he fell in combat.
Katz, an Armored Corps soldier, was killed in the battle on June 11, 1982, and had remained officially listed as missing ever since.
יהודה כץ ז"ל
(צילום: באדיבות המשפחה)
The IDF said his remains were located in an operation led by Military Intelligence and conducted jointly with the Mossad. After being brought to Israel, they underwent an identification process at the Military Rabbinate’s identification center, together with the IDF Medical Corps and Israel Police.
Katz’s family had been kept informed over the years about efforts to locate and return him, the military said. After the identification process was completed, the family was formally notified that his remains had been brought home.
His parents, Sarah and Yosef Katz, died before the decades-long search was completed.
According to the IDF, the recovery was made possible by precise intelligence gathered through a series of intelligence and operational efforts spanning more than four decades.
The military said the effort involved Israel’s coordinators for prisoners and missing persons in the Prime Minister’s Office, operational units in the Mossad and Military Intelligence, the Shin Bet and the IDF Personnel Directorate.
Katz’s return completes the recovery of all Israeli soldiers who had remained missing from the Battle of Sultan Yacoub. Staff Sgt. Zachary Baumel’s remains were returned to Israel in 2019, while Staff Sgt. Tzvi Feldman was returned in 2025.
IDF Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir called Katz’s return “a significant moment for the IDF and the State of Israel.”
“Decades have passed, but our duty to our fallen has not changed. We will not leave any of our people behind,” Zamir said. “Today we return Yehuda to burial in Israel, to his family and to his country, and close a painful circle that began more than four decades ago.”
“The memory of the soldiers who fell at Sultan Yacoub will forever remain part of the IDF’s heritage and of our commitment to future generations,” he added.
The IDF and Mossad expressed condolences to the family and said efforts to locate and return all remaining missing Israelis would continue.
Funeral arrangements are expected to be announced later.