Fifty-nine years after they died in the battle of Tel Arish near Holon, the remains of five IDF soldiers have been identified. The five men were known to have died in the battle and were buried side by side at the Nachalat Yitzchak cemetery in Tel Aviv. However, there had been no way of knowing which grave belonged to which soldier, and the five adjacent tombstones had simply been marked "anonymous".

After a long and difficult investigation, the IDF's Department for the Location of Missing Soldiers succeeded in identifying each of the graves.

The men fell in a bloody battle for the pillbox near the Arab village of Tel Arish, now known as Tel Giborim ("Hill of the Heroes" – in memory of the soldiers who fell in the battle) near Holon, just south of Tel Aviv. The battle took place on Nissan 19th 5708 (April 28th, 1948).

The names of the five soldiers are:

• Lt. Yechiel ("Chilik") Rosenfeld, Platoon Commander, 52nd Battalion, Givati Brigade.

• Cpl. Menachem Kellerman, Section Commander,, 52nd Battalion, Givati Brigade.

• Pvt. David Kochavi, machine gunner, 52nd Battalion, Givati Brigade.

• Pvt. Yitzchak Hamami, fighter, 52nd Battalion, Givati Brigade.

• Pvt. Yehoshua ("Yashka") Lustig, fighter, 52nd Battalion, Givati Brigade.



DNA materials were sent to a laboratory in the USA for identification.

The IDF's investigation took years and included the collection of eyewitness accounts, sifting through archival materials, interviews with family members and sending DNA materials to a laboratory in the USA for final identification.

The Head of the IDF's Human Resources Department formally approved the findings, and family members were notified of the location of their loved ones' graves.

A tombstone dedication ceremony will be held in the near future.

The investigation was carried out by Maj. Orli Cohen-Gefen, Commander of the Department for the Location of Missing Soldiers, and reserve officers Cpt. Giora Aderet and Cpt. Amir Rosenberg, with the help of Prof. Elon Peres, a geneticist from the Tel Hashomer Genetic Institute.

Peres said that the difficult part of the investigation was isolating quality DNA material from the burial places. DNA evidence was then compared to relatives of the deceased. The identification could only be carried out in a top lab in the United States, in a laboratory process that took nine months.

According to Cpt. Rosenberg, obstacles legal and halachic (relating to Jewish law) also had to be surmounted. The graves at Nachalat Yitzchak were only opened once it was clear that DNA identification was possible and after the families consented.

A Battle Gone Bad

The Tel Arish "pillbox," as this type of British-made cylindrical concrete fortification was called, controlled the Holon junction in early 1948 and prevented Jewish transportation from reaching southern Israel and Jerusalem.

The IDF launched Operation "Hametz," which was intended to tighten the siege of Arab Jaffa and which included the conquest of the Arab villages surrounding it (Salameh, Sakiah, Hiriyeh and Yazour). A battalion was entrusted with the task of taking the Tel Arish pillbox.

The Regiment Commander, Yakov Prolov (Perry), prepared a plan of battle that called for three companies to leave Mikveh Yisrael toward the pillbox. They were to be joined by an armored column near the village of Tel Arish, south of the pillbox position.

However, the force ran into problems cutting the fence around Mikveh Yisrael. It was late arriving near Tel Arish but the artillery barrage had been launched at the preset time. The element of surprise was thus forfeited. Despite this, the pillbox was captured without Arab resistance. At first light, however, a counterattack was launched by the soldiers of the Arab League's "Rescue Army" commanded by Fauzi Kaukji, who attacked from the west.

The IDF had not managed to dig in properly and suffered heavy losses. Nineteen soldiers were killed in the fighting, and the force fell back towards Mikveh Yisrael, carrying with it as many casualties as it could. Seven of the fallen soldiers were buried anonymously at the Nachalat Yitzchak cemetery. Two of the seven were identified after the battle. The other five are the ones who were identified now.

The resting place of two more soldiers who were killed in the battle is still not known. These are:

• Cpl. Amos Danieli, Platoon Commander, 52nd Battalion, Givati Brigade.

• Pvt. Yitzchak ("Yitzchakaleh") Kandler, sharpshooter, 52nd Battalion, Givati Brigade.

The IDF continues to search for them.