Dozens of Egyptian commando soldiers killed in the 1967 War were buried in a mass grave near Kibbutz Nachshon, and they have remained there to this day. The Israeli Military Censor has now cleared for publication the findings of Akevot Institute’s in-depth research into the topic.
To read the article by Akevot researcher Adam Raz in the weekend edition of Haaretz, click here.
The term “infiltrators” was used by Israel in the 1950s in relation to all Palestinians captured while trying to cross state borders – whether to return to their pre-1948 homes, to visit family members left in the country or to cultivate their lands which became part of the Israeli territory. The IDF and the police cracked down on Palestinians who were caught crossing the border, and in many cases they were shot to death. In the document, the Central Command outlines a procedure for handling the bodies of the Palestinians killed in this way – depending on the region in which the “infiltrators” were killed: in the center of the country, the responsibility for handling and burying the bodies lies with the patrol commander; The body should be buried in the ground at the place of killing and covered with dirt, but “stones should not be thrown at it” to avoid the false impression that bodies were mutilated. In the Triangle area on the other hand, where there were high population concentrations of Palestinians, the military governor would coordinate the transfer of the body to the local residents in order for them to take care of the burial.
In the IDF Archive, in file number 1970-311-77, entitled “Discussions of generals [discussions of the head of operations with commanders of command]”, there are a number of documents regarding the burial of enemy casualties and of Palestinians. The document presented here, dated February 1968, does not specify the names of those who discussed the issue, but it refers to steps taken to locate the graves of enemy soldiers who were killed in the war. Such actions, “were carried out only near the end of the of the Six Day War.” The document further states that there are seven sites where enemy casualties were buried, not including casualties buried in the fighting area of the 80th Brigade. The brigade fought in various areas during the war, most likely the document refers to the casualties of the Battle of Abu-Ageila (also known as the Battle of Umm-Qatef), in the eastern part of the Sinai Peninsula.
On the anniversary of the Six Day War, the members of the editorial staff of the newspaper Al Hareches (“On the Ridge”) dedicated the June 1968 issue to the kibbutz members’ memories of the war. Many of the kibbutz members shared their experiences, including Ze’ev (Zeban) Bloch, one of the kibbutz’s founders who served as commander of the Latrun region during the war. Some of the members described the “Egyptian commando affair” – the discovery of the presence of some 100 Egyptian soldiers in the Latrun area. Bloch tells of “bodies scattered on the Latrun hills” a week after the war (p. 25); A kibbutz member named Lazar recounts a “night of anxiety” in the kibbutz following the search for commando soldiers and the presence of armed and unidentified figures around the kibbutz (p. 27); kibbutz member Shaul recounts the mysterious fire that was fired in his direction as he drove on the dirt road leading to Plot 5 (pp. 28-29); and kibbutz member Rami referred directly to the mass grave of the commando soldiers, in a passage describing the first plowing after the war: “As I was working by the road leading to plot no. 5, I felt a terrible stench from the large mass grave of the commando soldiers. I could not continue, due to dizziness, so I decided to check what was going on. I discovered two separate arms and legs of the Egyptian commando soldiers who had apparently been hit by explosive devices, and they crashed to pieces. I buried them with a hoe. It did not help. The stench was still present. I went to the big mass grave, and to my horror, half a body peeked out. I covered it quickly.”
