Israel reveals Eli Cohen's last will before his execution in Syria.

In a remarkable development that brings back one of the most prominent intelligence issues in the history of the Arab-Israeli conflict, the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced the retrieval by Israel of over 2,500 documents, images, and personal belongings belonging to the famous spy Eli Cohen, as part of a secret operation carried out inside Syria. These materials included an official Syrian archive that held important details related to his four-year mission before his discovery and public execution in the Marjeh Square in Damascus on May 18, 1965. Among the retrieved documents was a handwritten will by Cohen written hours before his execution, containing poignant words to his wife Nadia, urging her to take care of the family, think about the future, not dwell on the past, and even granting her the freedom to remarry to take care of their children Sophie, Iris, and Sha'ul. He concluded his message with, "To all of you, my final kisses." The archive also contained audio recordings, interrogation files, correspondence with his family, images from his mission, as well as personal items like forged passports, pictures with high-ranking Syrian officials, notebooks with notes and diaries detailing the operations he conducted for the Mossad. Mossad chief David Barnea emphasized the importance of the operation, describing it as a "great achievement carrying the highest ethical values, and a further step towards determining Cohen's burial place in Damascus," something Israel has been seeking for decades. This archive was presented during a special meeting where Nadia Cohen met with the Israeli Prime Minister and the Mossad director, receiving part of her late husband's personal belongings, in a scene that recalls a long journey of demanding Cohen's fate, led by his widow for decades. This operation comes less than two weeks after Israel announced another operation where the remains of a soldier killed during the invasion of Lebanon in 1982 were recovered, indicating intensified Israeli intelligence activities in Syria after the overthrow of former President Bashar al-Assad's regime in December 2024, as also revealed by statements from a Palestinian official mentioning intense Israeli attempts through intermediaries to access Cohen's remains and another missing soldier. In 2018, Israel had retrieved Cohen's personal wristwatch in a secret operation, and later reports emerged about Russian mediation to retrieve more of his belongings, even his remains, without any announced results at the time. The recent operation reopens one of the most sensitive and complex files in Mossad's history, showing the continued intensive Israeli efforts to uncover the fate of one of its most famous spies, who managed to penetrate high levels of the Syrian leadership during his work period before being captured and executed, a scene that has remained vivid in the Middle East's memory for decades.