A top Israeli army commander was killed in northern Gaza on Sunday. The colonel is the highest-ranking Israeli officer killed by the Palestinian resistance movement Hamas.
According to the Israeli Defense Forces, the commander of the 401st ‘Iron Tracks’ of the 162nd Division, Colonel Ehsan Daxa, died on Sunday.
Daxa is the highest-ranking officer killed in the Israeli army since Colonel Isaac Ben Bashet was killed in December last year. He was killed in the Shujaiya area of northern Gaza.
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called Daxa a ‘hero of Israel’.
He offered condolences to Daxa’s wife Huda and his children Omri, Rif and Yasmin.
Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Galant said Daxa was “fighting Hamas” in Gaza.
He said, “Israel today lost a brave commander, a brave officer and a man who devoted energy to the security of the country.”
Rafiq Halabi, mayor of Daxar’s hometown Daliat al-Karmel, expressed grief over the death of a member of the Xay Druze community.
The deceased was a 41-year-old Daxa resident of the Druze town of Daliat al-Karmel. Six Israeli colonels have been killed so far fighting in Gaza. Four of them were killed during the Hamas attack on October 7 last year.
On Sunday morning, Hamas said its fighters hit an Israeli Markava tank, an unmanned armored vehicle, with a missile. Colonel Daxa was probably staying outside the tank at that time. Israel did not give details of Daxer’s death.
