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Israeli MIAs
Members of the Israel Defense Forces who are missing in action

Israeli MIA are members of the Israel Defense Forces who are missing in action. Despite efforts to locate and repatriate them, their whereabouts remain unknown. Every year, a state ceremony is held at Mount Herzl, Israel's military cemetery in Jerusalem.

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IDF prisoners of war

In the Yom Kippur War 301 Israelis were captured by Syria and Egypt, 232 of whom by the Egyptians, 65 by the Syrians and 4 by the Lebanese. The majority of them were captured in the first stage of that war. Some Israeli soldiers reported after their release about the difficult conditions they faced: they were severely beaten by their captors, sometimes making them unconscious, while many reported that they were being investigated under torture.2

Known Israeli MIAs

October 7th and aftermath

See also: Gaza war hostage crisis, 2023 Israeli–Palestinian prisoner exchange, and 2025 Gaza war ceasefire

During the Hamas October 7 invasion of Israel, 251 people were abducted from Israel into the Gaza strip. Of these, at least 23 were IDF soldiers, while the rest were Israeli civilians (both Jewish and non-Jewish), and foreign workers. Seven of the soldiers taken hostage were taken from the Nahal Oz military base, near the Kibbutz Nahal Oz, during the Nahal Oz attack. All seven were females.6 One was rescued three weeks after being taken hostage, the body of one was recovered in November 20237, and the other five were released in January 2025 as part of the second Gaza war ceasefire.8910 The remainder of the soldiers taken captive include Colonel Asaf Hamami, the highest ranking officer whose body was abducted, Sergeant Major Muhammad Alatrash an Israeli from the Bedouin community, and Edan Alexander, an Israeli-American citizen.1112

In addition to the soldiers taken hostage in the October 7 invasion of Israel, Hamas also holds the body of Lieutenant Hadar Goldin who fell in battle during the 2014 Gaza War.13

Recovered MIAs and KIAs

The remains of several Israeli soldiers missing and killed in action have been recovered.

NameDate Missing/KilledCircumstanceDate RecoveredCircumstance
Zechariah Baumel10–11 June, 1982Battle of Sultan YacoubApril 4, 2019Operation Bittersweet Song
Tzvi Feldman10–11 June, 1982Battle of Sultan YacoubMay 11, 2025Mossad Operation14
Oron ShaulJuly 20, 2014Battle of Shuja'iyyaJanuary 19, 2025ISA/Shabak Operation
Ehud Goldwasser12 July 2006Operation Truthful Promise16 July 2008Prisoner Exchange15
Eldad Regev12 July 2006Operation Truthful Promise16 July 2008Prisoner Exchange16
Gilad Shalit25 June 20062006 Gaza cross-border raid18 October 2011Gilad Shalit prisoner exchange
Nachshon WachsmanOctober 9, 1994Abduction and killing of Nachshon WachsmanOctober 14 1994Rescue Attempt

Procedure and guidelines

According to Reuben Yardor, a military intelligence leader of the Yom Kippur War, the automatic assumption they made was that all that's known to their captured soldiers is also known to the captors.17

Several publicized stories of Israeli prisoners of war were:18

  • Corporal Uri Ilan, undercover soldier in the Golani Brigade who committed suicide in a Syrian prison in 1955, leaving a note in which he wrote, "I did not betray."
  • Lieutenant Colonel Avi Nir, fighter pilot shot down and captured during the Yom Kippur War, died in captivity without revealing secrets to his captors. He was posthumously awarded the Medal of Courage, for "[He] was tortured to death by investigators but revealed no information. Doing so demonstrates loyalty and supreme sacrifice."19
  • Lieutenant Amos Levinberg, intelligence officer taken captive by the Syrians in the beginning the Yom Kippur War, and gave his captors a lot of information. He was eventually released in a prisoner exchange.20

See also

Notes

Further reading

References

  1. Simmons, Rabbi Shraga (October 16, 1986). "Missing in Action". aishcom. Retrieved April 2, 2018. http://www.aish.com/h/imd/48899777.html ↩

  2. "Israel's MIAs". Israel Ministry of Foreign Affairs. 11 October 2012. Retrieved August 20, 2013. http://mfa.gov.il/MFA/MFA-Archive/2004/Pages/Israeli%20MIAs.aspx ↩

  3. Fischer, Elli (August 30, 2017). "Yehuda, Tzvi, and Zachary: MIA for 30 Years". The Times of Israel. Retrieved April 2, 2018. https://blogs.timesofisrael.com/yehuda-tzvi-and-zachary-missing-for-30-years-tonight/ ↩

  4. Kaplan, Danny. "Commemorating a Suspended Death: Missing Soldiers and National Solidarity in Israel" (PDF). American Ethnologist Volume 35, Number 3 (August 2008). ISSN 0094-0496. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 March 2012. Retrieved 18 October 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20120317004813/http://www.dannykaplan.org/articles/SuspendedDeathCirculatePrePublication.pdf ↩

  5. Kaplan, Danny. "Commemorating a Suspended Death: Missing Soldiers and National Solidarity in Israel" (PDF). American Ethnologist Volume 35, Number 3 (August 2008). ISSN 0094-0496. Archived from the original (PDF) on 17 March 2012. Retrieved 18 October 2011. https://web.archive.org/web/20120317004813/http://www.dannykaplan.org/articles/SuspendedDeathCirculatePrePublication.pdf ↩

  6. Fabian, Emanuel (24 December 2024). "As IDF releases audio of lookout troops on Oct. 7, families complain footage edited". The Times of Israel. https://www.timesofisrael.com/as-idf-releases-audio-of-lookout-troops-on-oct-7-families-complain-footage-edited/ ↩

  7. Her body was recovered from Al-Shifa Hospital[6] /wiki/Al-Shifa_Hospital ↩

  8. Magramo, Akanksha Sharma, Kathleen (2023-10-31). "Israeli forces rescue soldier held by Hamas in special operation, IDF says". CNN. Archived from the original on 14 February 2024. Retrieved 2024-02-14.{{cite web}}: CS1 maint: multiple names: authors list (link) https://www.cnn.com/2023/10/31/middleeast/idf-ori-megidish-rescue-hamas-hostage-intl-hnk/index.html ↩

  9. Gil-Ad, Hadar (7 January 2024). "IDF soldier Noa Marciano was killed in Shifa hospital. Her father calls release of its director a 'knife to the heart'". Ynet. https://www.ynetnews.com/article/rkrom11xdr ↩

  10. "IDF soldiers released from captivity were held by senior Hamas terrorist – report". The Times of Israel. 4 February 2025. https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-soldiers-released-from-captivity-were-held-by-senior-hamas-terrorist-report/ ↩

  11. Bletter, Diana (19 March 2025). "With new Gaza fighting, 4 IDF widows worry the bodies of their fallen husbands won't return". The Times of Israel. https://www.timesofisrael.com/with-new-gaza-fighting-4-idf-widows-worry-the-bodies-of-their-fallen-husbands-wont-return/ ↩

  12. Mednick, Sam (March 22, 2025). "Father of the last living American hostage in Gaza hopes Trump can bring his son home". AP News. https://apnews.com/article/edan-alexander-american-hostage-hamas-israel-ceasefire-6f3f08b0359d8b9953c134174c59a870 ↩

  13. Schneider, Tal (27 January 2025). "Once again, Hadar Goldin may be left behind". The Times of Israel. https://www.timesofisrael.com/once-again-hadar-goldin-may-be-left-behind/ ↩

  14. Fabian, Emanuel. "Body of soldier Zvi Feldman, missing for 43 years, recovered by Mossad and IDF". www.timesofisrael.com. Retrieved 2025-05-11. https://www.timesofisrael.com/body-of-soldier-zvi-feldman-missing-for-43-years-recovered-by-mossad-and-idf/ ↩

  15. "Kidnapped troops return in coffins from Lebanon". ynet. 2008-07-16. Retrieved 2025-05-11. https://www.ynet.co.il/article/3568851 ↩

  16. "Kidnapped troops return in coffins from Lebanon". ynet. 2008-07-16. Retrieved 2025-05-11. https://www.ynet.co.il/article/3568851 ↩

  17. Dalia Gavriely (2006). "Israel's Cultural Code of Captivity and the Personal Stories of Yom Kippur War Ex-POWs". Sage Journals. 33 (1): 94–105. doi:10.1177/0095327X05282531. Retrieved August 20, 2013. http://afs.sagepub.com/content/33/1/94 ↩

  18. "Public Law- An Act" (PDF). November 8, 1999. Retrieved August 20, 2013. https://www.gpo.gov/fdsys/pkg/PLAW-106publ89/pdf/PLAW-106publ89.pdf ↩

  19. (The source is in Hebrew) ↩

  20. Bergman, Ronen (September 20, 2013). "The Spies Inside Damascus". Foreign Policy. Retrieved April 2, 2018. https://foreignpolicy.com/2013/09/20/the-spies-inside-damascus/ ↩