Ehsan Daxa (; ; 19 February 1983 – 20 October 2024) was an Israeli Druze army colonel and commander of the 401st Armored Brigade of the

Israel Defense Forces The Israel Defense Forces (IDF; , ), alternatively referred to by the Hebrew-language acronym (), is the national military of the State of Israel. It consists of three service branches: the Israeli Ground Forces, the Israeli Air Force, and ...

. He was killed by an explosion in the

Gaza war The Gaza war is an armed conflict in the Gaza Strip and southern Israel fought since 7 October 2023. A part of the unresolved Israeli–Palestinian conflict, Israeli–Palestinian and Gaza–Israel conflict, Gaza–Israel conflicts dating ...

on 20 October 2024, at the age of 41.

Biography

Daxa was born and raised in the

Druze The Druze ( ; , ' or ', , '), who Endonym and exonym, call themselves al-Muwaḥḥidūn (), are an Arabs, Arab Eastern esotericism, esoteric Religious denomination, religious group from West Asia who adhere to the Druze faith, an Abrahamic ...

town of

Daliyat al-Karmel Daliyat al-Karmel (, , "vineyards () of Carmel") is a Druze local council (Israel), town located on Mount Carmel in the Haifa District of Israel, around 20 km southeast of Haifa. In its population was 18,001. History In 1283 both ''Daliyat a ...

. He enlisted in the

in 2001, joining the 7th Armored Brigade. During the

2006 Lebanon War The 2006 Lebanon War was a 34-day armed conflict in Lebanon, fought between Hezbollah and Israel. The war started on 12 July 2006, and continued until a United Nations-brokered ceasefire went into effect in the morning on 14 August 2006, thoug ...

, he served as a company commander in the 75th Battalion of the 7th Brigade. Daxa was wounded at the Battle of Ayta ash-Sha'b. In 2024, Daxa became commander of the 401st Brigade. He was killed after the tank he was in ran into a booby-trapped explosive device in

Jabalia Jabalia, also spelled Jabalya (), is a city in the Gaza Strip, Palestine, located north of Gaza City, in the North Gaza Governorate of the Gaza Strip. According to the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics, Jabalia had a population of 172, ...

in the northern

Gaza Strip The Gaza Strip, also known simply as Gaza, is a small territory located on the eastern coast of the Mediterranean Sea; it is the smaller of the two Palestinian territories, the other being the West Bank, that make up the State of Palestine. I ...

during the

on 20 October 2024. He was buried in Daliyat al-Karmel the next day. He is considered to be the highest-ranking officer to have died in ground combat since the start of the war. Meir Biderman was appointed as the acting commander of the unit.

Personal life

Daxa was married and had three children.

References

1983 births 2024 deaths Israeli Druze people People from Daliyat al-Karmel 21st-century Israeli military personnel Israeli military personnel killed in the Israel–Hamas war Siege of North Gaza {{Israel-mil-bio-stub