Bodies of missing sailors found
Three soldiers, missing since Friday's rocket attack on Israeli naval vessel, found off coast of Beirut
Sunday, three days after an attack on their vessel, the bodies of three missing crewmembers were found. Their families were informed. Funeral dates have not yet been set.
Sunday morning marked the end of the difficult process of identifying the bodies of three missing crewmembers from the Israel Navy's 'Hanit' missile boat. The vessel was hit Friday evening by a Hizbullah-launched rocket, off the Beirut coastline. Saturday night, following the damaged ship's safe port in Ashdod, naval personnel, the rabbinate and a criminal identification team searched the area for the bodies of the missing soldiers.
Early Sunday morning, the IDF succeeded in located, in one of the living quarters in the ship's interior, the bodies of three missing crew members: Staff Sergeant Yaniv Herschkowitz, Sergeant Shai Atias and 1st Sgt. Dov Sternshus. Sunday afternoon, IDF representatives arrived at the soldiers' homes and told their families that their sons had been killed.
Investigation still underway
Later on Sunday, the fourth crewmember killed in Friday's attack, Staff Sergeant Tal Amgar, whose body was found over the weekend off the Beirut coast, will be laid to rest in the military cemetery in Ashdod. By the weekend, the navy was already fairly certain that the bodies of the remaining three sailors would be found in the living quarters, which were hit hard by the force of the blast.
Following the rocket attack on the vessel, a fire broke out on the launching pad at the ship's stern and caused damage to the ship's internal systems. After the ship's commanders had put out the fire and completed a crew count, it was determined that four crewmembers were missing. Many forces were called to the area to help search for the crew members, all the while under heavy fire.
In the navy, an investigation of the event is still underway. Saturday night, Head of Naval Operations, Rear Admiral (lower half) Noam Feig, admitted that the navy had not had intelligence information regarding Hizbullah's possession of C802 missiles and, therefore, had not activated the ship's missile defense system against such types of missiles.
Investigation findings are scheduled to be presented Monday to the head of the Israel Navy, Rear Admiral David Ben-Basat. IDF Chief of General Staff, Lt. Gen. Dan Halutz, ordered an additional investigation, which will examine all facets of the event, including the responsibility of the IDF Intelligence Branch.
