IDF Spokesman: 21 fighters were killed in the battle in the Gaza Strip / IDF Spokesman
The heavy disaster in the center of the Gaza Strip: among the dead whose names the IDF allowed to be published this morning (Tuesday) is the name of Major General Ahmed Abu Latif Merhat, a fighter in Battalion 8208, Brigade 261. Abu Latif, a familiar and beloved figure among many of the students at Ben Gurion University - left behind a wife, a one-year-old daughter, a couple of parents and 11 brothers and sisters.
At the beginning of the war, Abu Latif published a long and emotional post in which he told the story of his life and the sense of mission while he went out to fight with terrorists days after the start of the attack: "I have lived in Berhat all my life and have been working for two years in the university's security department. And I am proud to be a Bedouin-Israeli. As far as I am concerned, the people The people I live with and work with are my brothers and sisters and we all live together and respect each other in our country. I am proud to be a Bedouin who served in the IDF as a fighter in the Bedouin Brigade. with challenges and met the amazing people who became lifelong friends.
"I'm happy when I have the opportunity to connect with people in our company and connect cultures.
I am happy that I can invite my friends to eat meat and makluba in a warm atmosphere and can be hosted in the yard by people from Kibbutz Shovel who play the guitar and sing songs by Yehudit Ravitz.
I'm happy when I can travel in Israel with my friends and I'm happiest when they learn Arabic, try to talk to me in Arabic and ask me to help them."
Major General (res.) Ahmad Abu Latif, 26 years old, Merhat, fighter in Battalion 8208, Brigade 261, fell in battle in the southern Gaza Strip./IDF Spokesman
Abu Latif recounted an incident that happened on 9/10, two days after the war broke out: "At 8:00 p.m. I went with my brother-in-law, Kevin Yosef Elhazeil (he also worked for 4 years in university security and is now a respected firefighter), to distribute food to the soldiers in Beit Kama, on the way we could not to miss the police vehicles and at the same time we received messages about the infiltration of terrorists in the Mishmar HaNegev area, near Rahat. Because we are armed and professional security guards, we jumped there immediately and joined the police forces. We helped in the search for the terrorists, feeling adrenaline and a crazy mission. It was the least we could do and it fell to us the right to take part in guarding The house. Soon the terrorists were located and dealt with by the police.
"Since the outbreak of the war, we hear a lot about the involvement of the Arab citizens, unfortunately among the fallen are Bedouin and Druze soldiers, Muslims and Christians, who fell heroes while defending the country, and there is nothing greater than that.
The Bedouin community mourns the civilian victims who were murdered for no injustice - Jews, Christians or Muslims.
And I want to take this opportunity to inspire everyone who reads this.
We all share the same destiny and we must be together and united.
Unfortunately, there are people who do not believe in cooperation between the sectors, try to intimidate, provoke and destroy relations, destroy trust.
Don't believe them and don't let it happen."
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Bedouins
Gaza Strip
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War of Iron Swords