Crossword Genius

Article about unknown American soldiers by the cut-off Israeli city (8)

Ross

I believe the answer is:

nazareth

I'm a little stuck... Click here to teach me more about this clue!

'israeli city' is the definition.
(I've seen this before)

'article about unknown american soldiers by the cut-off' is the wordplay.
I cannot really see how this works, but
'article' could be 'a' (the indefinite article in English) and 'a' is located in the answer.
'about' could be 're' ('re' means regarding or about) and 're' is found in the answer.
'unknown' could be 'z' (algebra) and 'z' is present in the answer.
'american' could be 'a' (common abbreviation - e.g. in organisation names) and 'a' is present in the answer.
'the' could be 't' (the is pronounced as a 't' sound in some dialects) and 't' is found within the answer.
This may be the basis of the clue (or it may be nonsense).

Can you help me to learn more?

(Other definitions for nazareth that I've seen before include "Israeli city" , "Town where Jesus spent boyhood" , "Town where Jesus spent his youth" , "The home of Joseph and Mary according to the Gospels" , "Town in Galilee where Christ spent his youth" .)

I've seen this clue in The Independent.
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