IDF Spokesperson:
After 44 years, the remains of Staff Sergeant Yehuda Yekutiel Katz, of blessed memory, have been brought home to Israel.
The IDF, led by the Military Intelligence Directorate and the Mossad, has returned to Israel and to his family the remains of Staff Sergeant Yehuda Yekutiel Katz, of blessed memory, an armored corps soldier who fell in the Battle of Sultan Yacoub on 20 Sivan 5742 (June 11, 1982), during the First Lebanon War, and who had been listed as missing until today.
In an operation led by the Military Intelligence Directorate, as part of a joint intelligence-community effort with the Mossad, Yehuda's remains were located and brought to Israel. Following their arrival, an identification process was conducted at the Military Rabbinate's center for identifying fallen soldiers, in cooperation with the Medical Corps and the Israel Police.
Throughout the years, Yehuda Katz's family was kept informed of the continuing efforts to locate him and return him to Israel. Upon completion of the mission, the family was notified that their loved one had been brought home. Sadly, Yehuda's parents, Sarah and Yosef Katz, did not live to receive the news.
His return to Israel was made possible through efforts based on precise intelligence and a series of intelligence and operational activities spanning more than four decades since he fell in battle.
Over the years, the Prime Minister's Office coordinators for prisoners and missing persons worked side by side with operational units of the Mossad and Military Intelligence Directorate, alongside the Shin Bet and the IDF Personnel Directorate.
This marks the closing of a chapter and follows previous operations in which the remains of Staff Sergeant Zachary Baumel were returned to Israel in 2019 and Staff Sergeant Tzvika Feldman in 2025. With this, the mission to return all those missing from the Battle of Sultan Yacoub has been completed.
The mission was made possible by years of sustained intelligence research and collection efforts.
The IDF and the Mossad extend their condolences to the family and continue all efforts to return all missing persons.
Chief of the General Staff Lt. Gen. Eyal Zamir said: “The return of Yehuda Katz, of blessed memory, the last fallen soldier still missing from the Battle of Sultan Yacoub, is a significant moment for the IDF and for the State of Israel. Decades have passed, but our duty to our fallen has not changed—we will leave none of our people behind. Today, we return Yehuda for burial in Israel, to his family and to his homeland, closing a painful chapter 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 legacy and of our commitment to future generations.”