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Israeli Reports: Cohen’s Remains are in Cave Near Syria’s Qardaha

Israeli spy Eli Cohen. (AFP)
Israeli spy Eli Cohen. (AFP)
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Israeli Reports: Cohen’s Remains are in Cave Near Syria’s Qardaha

Israeli spy Eli Cohen. (AFP)
Israeli spy Eli Cohen. (AFP)

The remains of Israeli spy Eli Cohen, who was executed in Damascus in 1965, were buried in a mountain cave near the city of Qardaha in the Latakia province, the birthplace of head of the Syrian regime Bashar Assad, reported the Israeli Maariv daily Friday.

The newspaper said the information was delivered by an Arab source, who spoke with a high-ranking official from the Assad regime.

“In 1977, late former President Hafez Assad ordered the transfer of the body of Cohen from where it was buried to another place, after the Israeli intelligence Mossad agency carried out a serious attempt to search for his remains in several graves in the Syrian territories,” the Syrian official told the Arab source, according to Maariv.

The official said that in 1977, a Mossad team had reached Damascus and started digging up the graves, but failed to discover the whereabouts of Cohen’s body.

“The Israeli army sparked a battle with the Syrian military on the Jordanian-Syrian border to cover up the Mossad’s activities in Damascus,” the official revealed.

He added that at that time, Hafez Assad ordered that Cohen’s body be transferred to a “safe area”, tasking the secret mission to three of his loyal soldiers, who had served in the Presidential Guards.

“Two of the soldiers passed away, while the third is now in his eighties,” the source said.

He explained that in addition to the three soldiers, two persons knew about the mission: Former Syrian Defense Minister Mustafa Tlass and Syrian General Mohammed Suleiman, a key aide to Assad and a liaison officer with the Lebanese Hezbollah party. Suleiman was assassinated in Syria’s Tartus in 2008.

Earlier this week, the Israeli Jerusalem Post daily claimed that Cohen’s remains were being transferred from Syria to Israel.

Later, several Israeli media reports said a Russian delegation left Syria with a coffin containing the remains.

The Russian Foreign Ministry put out a statement Wednesday "resolutely refuting" the claim, which it described as a "provocation." It urged the Israeli media to show a more "accurate, professional and honest approach to coverage of such sensitive issues."

Cohen infiltrated the top echelons of Syria's leadership in the early 1960s and obtained top-secret intelligence before he was caught and publicly executed in 1965.

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Arab World

As Syrian Opposition Sweep into Aleppo, Army Closes Airport and Roads

A destroyed Syrian army tank in the village of Anjara on the outskirts of Aleppo, Nov. 29. (AP)
A destroyed Syrian army tank in the village of Anjara on the outskirts of Aleppo, Nov. 29. (AP)
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As Syrian Opposition Sweep into Aleppo, Army Closes Airport and Roads

A destroyed Syrian army tank in the village of Anjara on the outskirts of Aleppo, Nov. 29. (AP)
A destroyed Syrian army tank in the village of Anjara on the outskirts of Aleppo, Nov. 29. (AP)

Syrian authorities closed Aleppo airport as well as all roads leading into the city on Saturday, three military sources told Reuters, as the groups opposed to President Bashar al-Assad said they had reached the heart of Aleppo.
The opposition fighters, led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham group, carried out a surprise sweep through government-held towns this week and reached Aleppo nearly a decade after having been forced out by Assad and his allies.
Russia, one of Assad's key allies, has promised Damascus extra military aid to thwart the opposition, two military sources said, adding new hardware would start arriving in the next 72 hours.
The Syrian army has been told to follow "safe withdrawal" orders from the main areas of the city that the opposition have entered, three army sources said.
The fighters began their incursion on Wednesday and by late Friday an operations room representing the offensive said they were sweeping through various neighbourhoods of Aleppo.
They are returning to the city for the first time since 2016, when Assad and his allies Russia, Iran, and regional Shi'ite militias retook it, with the insurgents agreeing to withdraw after months of bombardment and siege.
Mustafa Abdul Jaber, a commander in the Jaish al-Izza opposition brigade, said their speedy advance this week had been helped by a lack of Iran-backed manpower in the broader Aleppo province. Iran's allies in the region have suffered a series of blows at the hands of Israel as the Gaza war has expanded through the Middle East.
The opposition fighters have said the campaign was in response to stepped-up strikes in recent weeks against civilians by the Russian and Syrian air force on areas in opposition-held Idlib, and to preempt any attacks by the Syrian army.
Opposition sources in touch with Turkish intelligence said Turkiye, which supports the opposition, had given a green light to the offensive.
But Turkish foreign ministry spokesperson Oncu Keceli said on Friday that Turkiye sought to avoid greater instability in the region and had warned recent attacks undermined de-escalation agreements.
The attack is the biggest since March 2020, when Russia and Turkiye agreed to a deal to de-escalate the conflict.
CIVILIANS KILLED IN FIGHTING
On Friday, Syrian state television denied opposition had reached the city and said Russia was providing Syria's military with air support.
The Syrian military said it was fighting back against the attack and had inflicted heavy losses on the insurgents in the countryside of Aleppo and Idlib.
David Carden, UN Deputy Regional Humanitarian Coordinator for the Syria Crisis, said: "We're deeply alarmed by the situation unfolding in northwest Syria."
"Relentless attacks over the past three days have claimed the lives of at least 27 civilians, including children as young as 8 years old."
Syrian state news agency SANA said four civilians including two students were killed on Friday in Aleppo by insurgent shelling of university student dormitories. It was not clear if they were among the 27 dead reported by the UN official.
Kremlin spokesman Dmitry Peskov said on Friday that Moscow regarded the attack as a violation of Syria's sovereignty.
"We are in favor of the Syrian authorities bringing order to the area and restoring constitutional order as soon as possible," he said.