Newspapers Yedioth Ahronoth and Haaretz published archival material and interviews with residents recounting how dozens of Egyptian soldiers killed in the Six-Day War may be buried in a mass grave.
Prime Minister Yair Lapid said on Sunday that his office would investigate reports of a mass grave in central Israel containing the bodies of Egyptian commandos who were killed during the 1967 Six Day War.
Lapid’s office said Egyptian President Abdel Fattah al-Sisi brought up the issue in a call after two Israeli newspapers published witness accounts suggesting there was an unmarked grave near Latrun, an area between Jerusalem and Tel Aviv where Israel’s army fought the Egyptian soldiers decades ago.
Newspapers Yedioth Ahronoth and Haaretz published archival material and interviews with residents recounting how dozens of Egyptian soldiers killed in the battle may be buried there.
“The Egyptian president raised the report about the collective grave of Egyptian soldiers during the Six Day War.”
Israeli Prime Minister Yair Lapid
Statement by the Prime Minister’s Office
“The Egyptian president raised the report about the collective grave of Egyptian soldiers during the Six Day War,” Lapid’s office said.
The Israeli leader, according to the statement, directed his military secretary “to examine the issue in-depth and to update Egyptian officials”.
The two Middle East leaders also spoke on bilateral and regional issues, agreeing to meet soon.
Sisi wished Lapid good luck in his new role as prime minister and referred to a prior meeting in Cairo when they talked about a variety of subjects.
The two emphasized the importance of the peace agreement between Egypt and Israel which set the foundation for a strategic relationship and central pillar of regional stability. The two expressed their commitment to deepening relations.
Lapid and al-Sisi also discussed US President Joe Biden’s upcoming visit to the region and the Palestinian-Israeli conflict.