Israel has connected with Russian mediators for assistance in locating the remains in Syria of Israeli agent Eli Cohen.
The latest Israeli attempt to find and repatriate Cohen’s body comes in the wake of the fall of the regime of Bashar al-Assad, whose family ruled Syria decades.
Cohen was tried and hanged for espionage by the Syrians in 1965 after he infiltrated the top levels of government.
Two Palestinian officials in Damascus told the AFP on Monday that contacts were underway via mediators to help find his remains.
Israeli security officials told the country’s Channel 12 News broadcaster on Tuesday that rumors that Jerusalem had already brought back Cohen’s remains for burial were untrue.
The information the legendary Mossad spy obtained is seen as having played a key role in Israel’s conquest of the Golan Heights from Syria in the 1967 Six-Day War.
Syria has previously denied knowing where Cohen was buried.
