IDF returns remains of soldier missing 44 years from 1982 Lebanon battle

The IDF and Mossad have returned the remains of SFC Yehuda Yekutiel Katz to Israel, an Armored Corps soldier who fell in the Battle of Sultan Yacoub on June 11, 1982, during the First Lebanon War and was missing ever since. The remains were located through a joint intelligence operation and identified at the Military Rabbinate's Fallen Soldiers Identification Center. The family was kept informed throughout the decades-long effort, though his parents did not live to see his return. This completes the mission to return all missing soldiers from the Battle of Sultan Yacoub, following the return of SFC Zachary Baumel in 2019 and SFC Tzvika Feldman in 2025.