Led by the Tzfat police station, dozens of volunteers from the Israel Dog Unit (IDU) launched a special operation this week in the caves and remote areas of the Upper Galilee, focusing on locating five missing persons who vanished in recent years under mysterious circumstances.
The renewed operation was sparked by new testimony regarding the possible whereabouts of David Fadida, who disappeared near Tzfat on October 15, 2024, at the age of 28. The IDU and Israel Police, followed the testimony with a high-intensity search effort in the Meron and Tzfat areas.
Among the other missing persons being searched for is Hymanut Kassaou, a 9-year-old girl who disappeared on February 25, 2024, from the Tzfat region. Her case has drawn particular concern due to her young age and the lack of leads since her disappearance.
Additional missing persons included in the operation:
- Moishe Kleinerman, 16 at the time of his disappearance on March 25, 2022, near the tomb of Rabbi Shimon Bar Yochai.
- Moshe Ilovitch, who went missing on May 18, 2019, in the Meron area at age 37
- Raphael Haddad, who disappeared on November 18, 2022, near Safed at age 60
Search teams, joined by relatives of the missing, focused heavily on caves, sinkholes, dense underbrush, and remote hideouts, employing advanced tracking methods and working dogs capable of working in harsh and inaccessible terrain.
The Israel Dog Unit, a nonprofit organization specializing in working dogs, emphasized the complexity of the mission and its commitment to turning over every stone-literally and figuratively-to find answers.
The organization issued a public appeal:
“Anyone with information that may help locate any of the missing individuals, or any detail that could lead to a breakthrough, is urged to contact the Israel Dog Unit hotline at 0544876709.”