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In Hunt for Its Missing Soldiers, Israel Leaves No Stone Unturned
(Washington Post) Loveday Morris - Earlier this year, Israel's National Center for Forensic Medicine tested skeletal remains and determined that the bones belonged to Staff Sgt. Zachary Baumel, who had gone missing in Lebanon in June 1982 during the Battle of Sultan Yacoub. Residents of the Yarmouk Palestinian refugee camp on the outskirts of Damascus had grown up hearing rumors that the bodies of missing Israeli soldiers were hidden in the cemetery. Eventually, Russian troops obtained Baumel's body, and they returned it to Israel. Syrian opposition activists said that Russian and Syrian soldiers are continuing to dig in the cemetery, hunting for the bodies of two other Israeli soldiers who went missing alongside Baumel. The forensics center compared the remains with a database of DNA from relatives of those missing and found a match. When the confirmation came, some of the officers accompanying the body cried. Chen Kugel, director of the center, said, "In Israeli culture it's very important to show that we look after the soldiers and bring them home."