'Hero of Israel': 401st Brigade commander Col. Ehsan Daxa killed in northern Gaza

The commander of the IDF's 401st "Iron Tracks" Brigade, Col. Ehsan Daxa, was killed in combat in northern Gaza, the military announced on Sunday evening.

Col. Daxa was 41 years old and came from Daliyat al-Karmel, the largest Druze community in Israel. He leaves behind a wife and three children. 

According to a Walla report, Col. Daxa was killed in combat after his tank hit an explosive device.

He is considered to be the highest-ranking officer to die in ground combat since the start of the war, the report added.

Israel's military said that during the incident in which Col. Daxa fell,  an additional officer from the 52nd Battalion of the 401st "Iron Tracks" Brigade was severely wounded. 

The wounded officer was then evacuated to a hospital to receive medical treatment, the IDF added.

During the incident, Col. Daxa and the wounded officer reportedly arrived with separate tanks at a lookout point in Jabalya. About twenty meters from both sides of the tank, an explosive device with a tripwire was reportedly detonated.

Col. Daxa was killed instantly by the explosive device, the report said.

During the Second Lebanon War, Col. Daxa fought as a tank commander in the 75th Battalion of the 7th Brigade against Hezbollah terrorists in southern Lebanon villages.

Daxa was promoted to the rank of colonel in 2020 when he was given command of the 205th "Iron Fist" Brigade.

The 205th, like the 401st, is one of the IDF's armored brigades.

The following year, he was appointed commander of the 474th Brigade, overseeing security in the Golan Heights and Mount Hermon area.

Daxa received command of the 401st Brigade earlier this year during the Israel-Hamas war.

Herzog expresses his condolences 

Following the announcement of Daxa's death, Israel's President Isaac Herzog expressed his condolences in an X/Twitter post. 

"Together with the entire house of Israel, I received with sorrow and pain the bitter news of the fall of the 401st Brigade, the late Col. Ehsan Daxa, who fell today in the battles of Jabalya," Herzog wrote.

"Ehsan - is a hero of Israel, a brave, humble, and valuable warrior - and his fall is a loss to the State of Israel and to Israeli society as a whole," Herzog added. 

Furthermore, Herzog addressed the Druze community, of which Daxa was a part of, mentioning the many lives lost in the Druze community throughout the war. 

"I salute him and hug his family, the community of Daliyat al-Karmel, 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. May his memory be blessed," the post concluded. 

יחד עם כל בית ישראל קיבלתי בצער וכאב את הבשורה המרה על נפילתו של מח״ט 401, אל״ם אחסאן דקסה ז״ל, שנפל היום בקרבות בג׳בלייה. אחסאן - גיבור ישראל, לוחם אמיץ, צנוע וערכי - ונפילתו היא אבדה למדינת ישראל ולחברה הישראלית כולה. אני מצדיע לו ומחבק את משפחתו, את הישוב דלית אל כרמל ואת…

— יצחק הרצוג Isaac Herzog (@Isaac_Herzog) October 20, 2024

A total of 749 killed since October 7, 2023

According to the IDF's tally, the death of Col. Daxa raises the total of soldiers killed on or since October 7 of last year to 749.

Some 356 of this number were killed since the start of the military's ground operations in the Strip on October 27.