TEL AVIV, Israel — Israel has retrieved thousands of items belonging to the country’s most famous spy after a covert operation in Syria.

On Sunday, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu shared some of the 2,500 items from the Syrian archive relating to Eli Cohen, an Israeli spy who infiltrated the political echelon in Syria with Cohen’s widow. Sunday marked 60 years since Cohen was hanged in a square in Damascus.

The items recently spirited into Israel include documents, recordings, photos and items collected by Syrian intelligence after his capture in January 1965.

Cohen’s success in Syria was one of the Mossad spy agency’s first major achievements and the top-secret intelligence he obtained is widely credited with helping Israel prepare for its swift victory in the 1967 Middle East War.

Cohen managed to forge close contacts within the political and military hierarchy of Israel’s archenemy in the early 1960s, ultimately rising to become a top adviser to Syria’s defense minister. In 1965, Cohen was caught radioing information to Israel.

— The Associated Press