Israeli authorities announced on Sunday the death of a senior army officer in the Gaza Strip, bringing the death toll to 358 soldiers since the start of the ground military offensive in the Palestinian territory on October 27, 2023.
Colonel Ahsan Daksa, commander of the 401 Armored Brigade, was 41 years old and a member of the Druze community.
He “was killed in action while fighting against Hamas terrorists in Gaza,” Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said in a statement. Army spokesman Rear Admiral Daniel Hagari said he was killed while near his tank in northern Gaza.
The army has been carrying out an offensive there for more than two weeks against the Palestinian Islamist movement, particularly in Jabalia, ravaged by hostilities.
The city has already twice been the scene of some of the most violent fighting in Gaza, since the start of the war triggered by the unprecedented attack carried out by Hamas against Israel on October 7, 2023.
Brigade 401, which the colonel had led for four months, “is at the head of the offensive in the Gaza Strip,” said Daniel Hagari. According to the army, the officer was decorated “for an act of bravery” after saving wounded soldiers during the 2006 war against Lebanese Hezbollah.
Israeli President Isaac Herzog called him a “hero of Israel” saying his death was “a loss for the State of Israel and for Israeli society,” according to a statement from his office.
