Dani Aloush, 52: Electrical engineer dreamed of living in Thailand
Accidentally killed while working near the Gaza border on October 9, 2023
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Dani Aloush, 52, an Israel Electric Corporation employee, was accidentally shot dead on October 9, 2023, while working near the Gaza border.
Two days after the Hamas onslaught, Dani and several of his coworkers were called to the Avshalom Junction, near Kibbutz Holit across from southern Gaza, to carry out necessary electric work on infrastructure that was damaged in the attack.
According to a Ynet news report – citing an IDF investigation – a group of LOTAR counter-terror soldiers approached the junction as the group was working. They saw the IEC workers in non-military vests and helmets, not in IDF uniforms, and believed them to be terrorists, opening fire and killing Dani and Tal Danieli.
Dani was buried in Omer on October 10. He is survived by his wife, Gal, their three children, Yarden, Guy and Ofir, his mother, Esther, and his siblings Irit, Rafi and Shay.
He was born and raised in Beersheba and attended local schools, according to a state obituary.
During his mandatory military service, Dani served in the Israeli Air Force in an anti-aircraft warfare unit. After he was released from the army, he studied electrical engineering at the Beersheba Technological College.
At age 30, he began working at the Israel Electric Corporation, where he remained for more than 20 years as a supervisor of distribution lines, and he welcomed and trained many new employees over the years.
In 1994, Dani married Gal, and the couple settled in the small town of Omer, just outside Beersheba, where they raised their three children.
“Dani was both a cautious and a brave man,” his wife, Gal, told the Ynet news site. He set out that day, as always, she said, with a “sense of mission… when I asked Dani if he had to go, he said, ‘Would you agree to be without electricity for 10 minutes?’”
Gal said that “Dani had a lot of dreams, like for example moving to live in Thailand. Or growing old just the two of us, in a smaller home.” She noted at the time that their daughter was about to give birth: “Dani wanted to be a grandfather so much. He definitely would have been the perfect grandfather.”
His younger brother, Shay, wrote on Facebook, “Dani, my big brother, you were my guide in life, every problem I had you knew how to deal with, you loved my son like he was your grandson, you had a special connection that I can’t explain in words. My heart can’t accept this huge loss.”
The Times of Israel Community.