New Delhi: With the fall of the Bashar al-Assad regime in Syria, Israel has launched a search for a secret grave inside Syria. This grave is of Eli Cohen, the most dangerous spy of the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad. Israeli media outlet Jerusalem Post has given this information by quoting the Hezbollah-affiliated newspaper Al-Akhbar.
Israel has opened contacts inside Syria and abroad to locate the site where spy Eli Cohen was buried, Al-Akhbar reported, citing diplomatic sources.
Israel has also launched renewed efforts to locate the bodies of IDF soldiers who were declared missing after the battle for Sultan Yacoub that took place on June 12, 1982.
In February 2021, it was reported that Russia, cooperating with the Syrian authorities, was exploring the area of the Yarmouk refugee camp in southern Damascus to hand over Cohen’s body to Israel.
The following month, an item allegedly linked to Cohen was handed over to Israel. Israeli media reports at the time said the object could have been a document of Cohen’s clothing or an article. However, the office of the then Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu denied these reports. It is not yet clear whether such a thing was actually handed over.
Eli Cohen was a spy for the Israeli intelligence agency Mossad, who was sent as part of a mission in Syria. Cohen was born in Egypt in 1924 to a Syrian Jewish family. He made inroads into the highest positions of the Syrian army and government by presenting himself as a Syrian businessman. Between 1961 and 1965, Cohen transferred important intelligence from inside Syria to Israel.
Cohen’s mission is remembered as one of the most daring intelligence-gathering operations ever conducted in Israeli history. Cohen’s grip was so deep that he was set to be made deputy minister of defense. They were given secret military briefings. In January 1965, while Cohen was sending intelligence messages to Israel, his radio signal was detected by Syrian counter-intelligence and he was captured.
Cohen was hanged openly in Damascus in May 1965 after a military trial. Syria refused to return Cohen’s body to his family in Israel. His body was reportedly buried several times at different places to prevent Israel from finding and taking back his remains.
