Israeli Arab killed fighting for IS in Iraq

Family confirms Ahmed Habashi, 24, from village of Iksal, slain near Iraqi city of Ramadi; some 10 Israelis said fighting with jihadist group

By Ilan Ben Zion 11 October 2014, 4:37 pm Edit

Ilan Ben Zion, a reporter at the Associated Press, is a former news editor at The Times of Israel.

An Israeli Arab from a Galilean village was killed in recent days while fighting for the Islamic State jihadist group in Iraq.

According to a report in Arabic weekly Al Arab, Ahmed Habashi, 24, from the village of Iksal near Nazareth, traveled to Turkey in January 2014 with four other Israeli Arabs, crossed into Syria and joined IS. He was killed near the Iraqi city of Ramadi, a battleground between the radical Islamist group and Iraqi government forces.

The circumstances of his death remain unclear, the report said.

Habashi’s family was informed of his death by another Israeli Arab who joined the ranks of the Islamic State, Ynet reported. The family initially told Al Arab that they have yet to receive any official word concerning their son, and that his fate remains unknown. Later Saturday, though, his family confirmed that he had been killed.

Hundreds of Iksal residents came to his parents’ house to express their condolences after news of his death reached Israel, Channel 10 reported.

Some 10 Israeli-Arab citizens have left the country to join the Islamic State, a Shin Bet security service source said in September, according to an Israel Hayom report.

Among those known to be fighting with the Islamic State was Rabiya Shahade, 26, an Israeli citizen from Nazareth, who joined the jihadist group about a year ago.

Shahade, who goes by the name Abu Musaav Alsafuri in Syria, was described in a Yedioth Ahronoth report from last month as having had Christian and Jewish friends before he became radicalized. He left behind in Israel a wife and newborn son.