Israeli brigade commander killed in action amid heavy fighting in northern Gaza

IDF Colonel Ehsan Daxa, the commander of the 401st Armored Brigade, was killed amid ongoing fighting in the town of Jabaliya in the northern Gaza Strip on Sunday, when his tank drove over an IED, according to an announcement by Israel Defense Forces.

Israeli President Isaac Herzog said he received the news “with sorrow and pain.”

“Ehsan was a hero of Israel, a brave, humble and ethical warrior, and his fall is a loss to Israel and to Israeli society as a whole,” Herzog stated.

Daxa was decorated for “boldness, courage, resourcefulness and professionalism,” after rescuing fellow soldiers under fire during the Second Lebanon War in 2006. He was a resident of the Druze town of Daliyat al-Carmel in northern Israel.

“I salute him and embrace his family, the community of Daliyat al-Carmel, and our sisters and brothers from the Druze community who have lost many precious sons since the beginning of the fighting with devotion, a sense of mission and shared destiny,” Herzog added.

Hamas Deputy Political Bureau Chairman Khalil al Hayya reiterated Hamas’ maximalist negotiation position during a speech mourning Yahya Sinwar on October 18. Hayya declared that Hamas would not release the Israeli hostages until the IDF completed a full withdrawal from the Gaza… https://t.co/uW9dKTMZay pic.twitter.com/WLtuF72C3b

— Institute for the Study of War (@TheStudyofWar) October 19, 2024

Daxa is the most senior IDF officer to be killed in action during ground operations in Gaza, together with the late Col. Yitzhak Ben Bashat. Three other brigade commanders died during the intense defensive battles during the Hamas invasion and terror attack on Oct. 7 of last year.

The mayor of Daxa's hometown described the IDF colonel as “a hero, brave, a fighter who became a legend, humble, who fought since the beginning of the war.”

Sheikh Mowafaq Tarif, the spiritual leader of the Druze community, said the IDF “lost one of the best and most senior field commanders… This is a very difficult and painful loss for the State of Israel, for the IDF, and for the Druze community. Unfathomable that the hero destined for greatness is no longer there.”

“The Druze community continues to pay the heaviest and most expensive price in the war, losing their best sons and officers… Bereavement is a sobering reminder that equality in burden and loss, which can only be seen on the battlefield, must be present in everyday life as well. This is the duty of the state towards its Druze citizens,” said Tarif.

During the incident that killed Daxa, two IDF tanks were hit by explosives hidden on the ground in Jabaliya, where the army is currently in its third week of a large-scale operation. In addition to Daxa, three other officers were wounded: one is in serious condition, one in moderate condition, and one in good condition.

In recent weeks, soldiers of Daxa’s 401st Brigade and the 460th Armored Brigade, as well as the Givati Infantry Brigade, have eliminated hundreds of terrorists in Jabaliya.

כוחות צה״ל בפיקוד הדרום ממשיכים בפעילות לפירוק ארגון הטרור חמאס: תיעוד מפעילות הכוחות בעזה pic.twitter.com/ww5c04WAio

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) October 20, 2024

Israeli forces located and destroyed weapon stockpiles while discovering underground infrastructure that Hamas had restored after the previous two rounds of fighting in Jabaliya.

Meanwhile, the IDF has rejected the latest accusation of mass casualties allegedly caused by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza.

Gaza's civil defense agency, which is controlled by Hamas, claimed that a strike on a “residential area in Beit Lahiya” killed at least 73 people and wounded many more.

“According to a preliminary examination, the numbers published by the government information office in Gaza - which acts as a communication arm of Hamas - are exaggerated and do not coincide with the information available in the IDF, the exact weapons used and the accuracy of hitting a target of the terror organization Hamas,” the IDF stated.

“The IDF continues to check and calls on the media to be careful with the information published by Hamas officials, as has been proven in previous events. We emphasize that this is an active combat zone.”

The Israeli Air Force struck about 175 targets during the past day, most of them belonging to the Hezbollah terrorist organization in Lebanon.

בדרום הרצועה הלוחמים זיהו חוליית מחבלים שפעלה במרחב הכוחות, הלוחמים חיסלו את המחבלים בקרב פנים אל פנים ובשיתוף חיל האוויר>> pic.twitter.com/7aYyyxGYwz

— צבא ההגנה לישראל (@idfonline) October 20, 2024

In the Gaza Strip, soldiers of the 162nd, the 252nd, and the Gaza Division continued to operate across the enclave, eliminating terrorists and destroying Hamas infrastructure, the IDF said in a statement.

On Saturday, the IDF announced that two soldiers died amid the fighting in northern Gaza. They were identified as Staff Sgt. Ofir Berkovich (20) from Modi’in, and Sgt. Elishai Young (19) from Dimona. Both of them served under Col. Daxa in the 401st Armored Brigade.

Their deaths raise the overall death toll from the ground operations in the Gaza Strip to 357.