Ahmed Abu Latif Merhat, soldier in Battalion 8208, 26th Brigade/IDF Spokesman
Acting Master Sergeant Ahmed Abu Latif, 26 years old from Mahratt, fell this week in the house collapse disaster in the center of the Gaza Strip along with 20 other fighters.
Ahmed was a fighter in Battalion 8208, Brigade 261. Ahmed left behind a wife, Zahra, a one-year-old girl who was born only recently, the lovely Mansura, a couple of parents and 11 brothers and sisters.
He worked in the security system of Ben Gurion University and loved everyone around him, always smiling.
Everyone who met Ahmed could not help but be infected by his love of man and his Israeli pride.
I "a proud Israeli Bedouin" used to say, "This is our country and we will keep it united. We will not allow anyone to separate," he emphasized.
Ahmed was a man of deeds, not just words.
When the war broke out, he immediately contacted every possible body and asked them to help him enlist in the reserves and protect the country.
When the answer was delayed, he asked to volunteer to help Jewish farmers who were harmed and local emergency response classes.
In the end, the long-awaited order arrived, and Ahmed called me jubilant that he was finally being recruited.
He made sure to send me a picture from the front every few days and informed me that he was guarding the rear.
Transition from a blood alliance to a brotherly alliance in the Negev - Bedouins and Jews together
The news about our fallen sons makes all of our hearts cry non-stop.
I received the phone call announcing Ahmed's fall from his father, his granddaughter's grandfather, a dear friend of mine - Amr Zakik, Tel Sheva city engineer.
The hard message hit me hard and broke my heart completely.
From long conversations with Ahmed and without imagining the bitter end, I know for sure that Ahmed would have wanted us to continue carrying the flag he carried.
The continuation of the transition from a covenant of blood to a covenant of brothers in the Negev - Bedouins and Jews together.
Ahmed was also troubled by the housing solution for the liberated Bedouin soldiers in the Negev, and dreamed that a liberated Bedouin soldier would receive assistance in finding suitable housing solutions.
We will do everything to continue to promote this will despite the many challenges along the way.
Rest in peace dear Ahmed.
There are no words to comfort the dear family and all the families of the dead.
Each is a plucked flower.
Hagai Raznik is the head of the Reifman Institute for the Development of the Negev and the chairman of the Directorate of the Fund for Discharged Soldiers at the Ministry of Defense.
More on the same topic:
news
Gaza war
War of Iron Swords