Syrian regime soldiers and their Russian counterparts continue to dig up graves in the al-Shuhada al-Qadeem (Old Martyrs) cemetery in the Yarmouk camp for Palestinian refugees in Damascus, searching for the remains of Israelis thought to be buried in the cemetery in the 1980s, so that they can be returned to Israel, as had been done a few months ago.
On Sunday, the Action Group For Palestinians of Syria said, quoting their sources, that, “Russian forces continued to dig up the graves of martyrs and to work to remove their remains or parts of their bodies in order to examine them in a base that had belonged to the Palestinian Liberation Army in the cemetery, and then transferred them to a lab.”
American media sources spoke of Russia transporting the remains of more than 10 people from the Yarmouk camp to a forensic lab in Israel to confirm their identity.
According to the Action Group, regime forces prevented residents from visiting graves on Eid al-Adha as well as on Eid al-Fitr, in addition to preventing delegations of pro-regime Palestinian groups and the PLO from accessing the graves on the first day of the Eid.
In April, Israel received the remains of a soldier, Zechariah Baumel, who was killed in Lebanon in 1982, but Israel’s Channel 2 discovered that it was not the first operation, as Israel had, via Russia, received the remains of four people who had been buried in Syria.
This article was translated and edited by The Syrian Observer. The Syrian Observer has not verified the content of this story. Responsibility for the information and views set out in this article lies entirely with the author.
