From the Liveblog of
Thursday, November 2, 2023
IDF says senior officer killed, three soldiers wounded in fighting
Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian is The Times of Israel's military correspondent
The Israel Defense Forces announces the death of a senior officer during fighting in the Gaza Strip.
Lt. Col. Salman Habaka, 33, the commander of the 188th Armored Brigade’s 53rd Battalion, from Yanuh-Jat, was killed battling Hamas terrorists in the northern part of Gaza.
No further details are given on the circumstances of his death.
Separately, a reservist of the 679th Yiftah Brigade, a Givati soldier, and a Combat Engineering soldier, were seriously wounded in overnight operations in the northern part of Gaza.
Additionally, a soldier of the Border Defense Corps’ Caracal Battalion was seriously wounded in an incident on the Egyptian border. No further details are given on the circumstances.
Habaka is the most senior officer to have been killed during the IDF’s ground operation in the Gaza Strip.
His death brings the toll to 18 soldiers killed during the ground offensive, and 333 since the beginning of the war.
