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Israel rejects calls for cease-fire in Hamas war as Gaza hospitals go dark
Hero Israeli tank commander killed after storming Hamas terrorists, saving civilians
An Israeli tank commander from the country’s minority Druze community, who was killed in combat in Gaza, should serve as a symbol for all Israelis that in order to defeat darkness the country must unite, the father of the soldier, the highest-ranking military officer to be killed so far, told Fox News Digital.
Lt. Col. Salman Habaka was hailed as a hero
following Hamas’ surprise mass terror attack in Israel on Oct. 7 after commandeering two tanks and heading to battle thousands of Palestinian terrorists even before his own commanders realized what was happening. Less than four weeks later, on Nov. 2, Habaka, 33, was killed in action by a Hamas sniper as Israeli forces deepened their ground incursion into Gaza.
Stories of heroic acts committed by Israelis in stopping Hamas terror atrocities have shone a spotlight on some of the country’s minority communities who also played their part in preventing more terror. Israel’s non-Jewish population is around 20%, including Muslim, Christian and Druze, an esoteric, monotheistic religion that incorporates elements of all Abrahamic religions and other philosophies.
“On the morning of Oct. 7, we had a family event planned,” Habaka’s father, Emad Habaka, told Fox News Digital from his home in the Druze village of Yanuh Jat, in northern Israel. “I called him to check if it was still going ahead but he told me that he had to go back to his base immediately. When I asked him why, he just told me to turn on the TV.”
While the elder Habaka, like most other Israelis, was still trying to figure out what was happening in southern Israel, along the border with the Gaza Strip, his son – already a decorated IDF commander – was speeding to his base in the Negev desert to retrieve his tank.
“He somehow understood what was going on and even though he received no orders from his commanders, he decided to get his tank and head into battle,” said the father, 60, describing Salman, a father of one, as a modest and respectful person who always did whatever he could to help other people.
Fox News’ Ruth Marks Eglash contributed to this report