Salman Habaka

Israeli military officer (1990–2023)

Salman Habaka

Native name	سلمان حبقة
Born	August 1990 Yanuh-Jat
Died	(2023-11-02)November 2, 2023 (age 33) Gaza Strip
Buried	Yanuh-Jat
Allegiance	Israel
Service/branch	Israeli Ground Forces
Rank	Lieutenant Colonel
Battles/wars	2023 Israel–Hamas war Battle of Beit Hanoun †

Sgan aluf Salman Habaka (Hebrew: סלמאן חבקה; August 1990 – November 2, 2023) was an Israeli military officer who was killed in action during the Israel–Hamas war. Born in the Northern District village of Yanuh-Jat into a Druze family, he joined the Armored Corps of the Israel Defence Forces in 2009 and was subsequently appointed commander of the 188th Armored Brigade's 53rd Battalion. While fighting in the Gaza Strip in 2023, Habaka was killed by Palestinian militants.^[1]

Career

Salman studied at the "Acre Kzine Yam" in middle school and high school, before the military recruitment he spent a whole year at the "Kerem El" pre-military training school and in August 2009 he joined the Israel Defence Forces and started his military career in the Armored Corps.

During the 2023 Israel–Hamas war, he became known for his actions at Be'eri, the location of the Be'eri massacre of the 2023 Hamas attack on Israel; he was one of the first soldiers to arrive in the area as the scope of Hamas' incursion was becoming known, having travelled in two tanks with a number of his soldiers to join a paratrooper contingent already at the location. Upon the orders of lieutenant colonel Barrak Hiram, Habaka shelled houses before soldiers searched them for hostages.^[2] On 2 November 2023, he was killed in action in Gaza during the Israeli invasion of the Gaza Strip.^[3]^[4]

Personal life

A member of the Druze minority from Yanuh-Jat, In the years of his life, Salman had time to build his house, get married and start a family. Salman was a loving family man and a very active individual in society who always contributed. He left behind his parents, three brothers and two sisters, a wife and a two-year-old baby.^[5]

References

^ ToI Staff. "Senior IDF officer who fought Hamas in Be'eri killed in Gaza fighting". www.timesofisrael.com. Archived from the original on 3 November 2023. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
^ "N12 - סא"ל סלמאן חבקה, גיבור הקרב בבארי, נפל בקרב בעזה". 2 November 2023. Archived from the original on 4 November 2023. Retrieved 7 November 2023.
^ Beaumont, Peter (2 November 2023). "Israeli tank commander hailed as hero after Hamas attack is killed in Gaza". The Guardian. Archived from the original on 3 November 2023. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
^ Wu, David (2 November 2023). "Hero senior Israel soldier who led October 7 defence killed fighting Hamas". skynews. Archived from the original on 3 November 2023. Retrieved 3 November 2023.
^ Zitun, Yoav; Halabi, Einav (2 November 2023). "A hero: Lt. Col. Salman Habaka, who fought in Be'eri, fell in battle in Gaza". Ynetnews. Archived from the original on 3 November 2023. Retrieved 4 November 2023.

Israel–Hamas war

Engage-
ments

Hamas-led
attack on Israel

Attacks on civilians	Netiv HaAsara Alumim Be'eri Elchanan Team Holit Kfar Aza Kissufim Nir Oz Nir Yitzhak Nahal Oz Nirim Nova music festival Psyduck music festival
Battles	Re'im Sderot Sufa Zikim Israeli female tank crew fight
General topics	Allegations of genocide Allegations of involvement of UNRWA employees Denial Sexual and gender-based violence

Israeli invasion
of Gaza

Attacks on refugee camps	Jabalia 31 October Al-Shati Al-Maghazi
Attacks on schools	Al-Maghazi Al-Fakhoora Al-Falah Shadia Abu Ghazala School
Attacks on health facilities	Killing of health workers Gaza Strip mass graves Al-Ahli Arab Hospital explosion Al-Shifa Hospital siege alleged military use ambulance airstrike Kamal Adwan Hospital siege Nasser Hospital siege Nasser Hospital mass graves Gaza Strip mass graves
Other attacks	Airstrikes on municipal services in Gaza Church of Saint Porphyrius Engineer's Building strike and massacre Flour massacre Palestinians evacuating Gaza City Sabra mosque World Central Kitchen drone strikes
General topics	Gaza genocide allegations Bombing of the Gaza Strip Destruction of cultural heritage during the Israel–Hamas war Environmental damage in the Gaza Strip caused by the Israel–Hamas war Torture AI-assisted targeting

Other theaters

Israel–Lebanon border clashes
- Attacks on journalists
Israeli incursions in the West Bank
- Killing of Benjamin Achimeir
- April 2024 Israeli settler rampages
Givat Shaul shooting
Tower 22 drone attack

Iran–Israel conflict	Israeli bombing of the Iranian embassy in Damascus Iranian strikes in Israel Israeli strikes on Iran
Red Sea crisis	Operation Prosperity Guardian Attacks on the MV Maersk Hangzhou 2024 missile strikes in Yemen Marlin Luanda missile strike

Hostage
crisis

Hostages	Noa Argamani Bibas family Alex Dancyg Oded Lifshitz Hersh Goldberg-Polin Naama Levy
Rescued hostages	Operation Golden Hand Ori Megidish
Released hostages	Rachel Edry Yarden Roman-Gat Mia Schem
Deceased hostages	Alon Shamriz, Yotam Haim, and Samer Talalka

General
topics

Historical context	Arab–Israeli conflict Blockade of the Gaza Strip Palestinian freedom of movement Israel and apartheid Children Gaza–Israel conflict Casualties of Israeli attacks on the Gaza Strip Human shields Israeli settlement Israeli outpost Israeli settler violence Israeli disengagement from Gaza Palestinian rocket attacks Palestinian tunnel warfare anti-tunnel barrier Women

Effects

Reactions

Discrimination	Antisemitism Riots in the North Caucasus Anti-Palestinianism Islamophobia Violent incidents Killing of Wadea al-Fayoume Death of Paul Kessler Vermont student shooting Zürich stabbing attack
Protests	France March for the Republic and Against Antisemitism Pro-Palestinian protests at Sciences Po Indonesia 2023 Bitung clashes Israel United Kingdom United States National March on Washington: Free Palestine March for Israel DNC protests March on Washington for Gaza Self-immolation of Aaron Bushnell Israel–Hamas war protest vote movements Artists4Ceasefire Columbia University protests
UN resolutions	A/RES/ES-10/21 S/RES/2712 A/RES/ES-10/22 S/RES/2720 S/RES/2728
UN inquiry	Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory
World Court	South Africa v. Israel (Genocide Convention) Legal Consequences of Israeli Policies and Practices
Courts	Defense for Children International-Palestine v. Biden

Casualties

Israel

Security forces	Alim Abdallah Yitzhak Ben-Bashat Jayar Davidov Eli Ginsberg Salman Habaka Asaf Hamami Yitzhar Hofman Roi Levy Izhar Peled Yonatan Steinberg
Civilians	Lior Asulin Yuval Castleman Hayim Katsman Ofir Libstein Shani Louk Aner Shapira Vivian Silver Yahav Winner

Palestine

Hamas	Saleh al-Arouri Abdul Fatah Dukhan Mohammed Dababish Wissam Farhat Ahmed Ghandour Marwan Issa Fursan Khalifa Osama Mazini Ayman Nofal Jamila al-Shanti Ali Al Qadi
Other militants	Fouad Abu Butihan Jihad Shehadeh
Civilians	Tawfic Abdel Jabbar Refaat Alareer Hammam Alloh Naheda and Samr Anton Yazan al-Kafarneh Ibrahim al-Astal Ahmad Bahar Mohammed Barakat Rashid Dabour [ar] Mohamed al-Dalou Awni El-Dous Omar Ferwana Hiba Abu Nada Ibrahim Qusaya Hind Rajab Mohammed Shabir Omar Abu Shawish Sufian Tayeh Wael Al Zard

Spillover

Journalists

General topics

Friendly fire

Related
people

Israelis	Nimrod Aloni Rachel Goldberg-Pollin Eitan Okun [he] Yagel Oshri Inbal Rabin-Lieberman Amir Tibon
Palestinians	Wael Al-Dahdouh Plestia Alaqad Motaz Azaiza Bisan Owda Mustafa Moien Ayyash