An October Facebook post from Sergeant First Class Ahmad Abu Latif, a member of the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), has resurfaced for fresh praise after he died in combat in the Gaza Strip on Monday.
Abu Latif, from Rahat, left behind a wife and an 11-month-old daughter, as well as his parents and 11 brothers and sisters. As a Bedouin Arab and Israeli citizen, he served in the 8208th Battalion of the 261st Brigade.
Abu Latif died in the single deadliest event for the IDF to date of its military campaign in Gaza. Abu Latif was helping to clear buildings in southern Gaza when an explosion brought two structures down on top of IDF soldiers inside. Twenty-one IDF soldiers died in the incident, including two who died in an Israeli tank, hit by an RPG, guarding the area nearby.
In addition to being remembered for his service and sacrifice, the Bedouin soldier is also gaining praise again for a Facebook post from October to students at Ben-Gurion University, according to The Jerusalem Post. Abu Latif worked as security at the university before taking part in the Gaza military operations after the October 7 terror attack by Hamas. Abu Latif sought to reassure the university students of their safety following the deadliest day for Jews since World War II in which roughly 1,200 Israelis were killed and hundreds more taken captive.
“I am proud to be an Israeli Bedouin. As far as I am concerned, the people that I live with and work with are my brothers and sisters, and we all live together and respect one another in our land,” Abu Latif wrote in the post, according to Israel National News. “I am proud to be a Bedouin who serves in the IDF as a combat soldier in a Bedouin battalion. I merited to protect and defend, in meaningful service that I will never forget. My service showed me my strengths and capabilities to deal with challenges and I met amazing people that became my lifelong friends.”
He celebrated his chance to serve in the IDF and said the opportunities he received to connect with his fellow Israelis from different backgrounds, and opportunities for them to better understand him, were the moments he cherished the most.
“I am so very happy that I have a chance to connect to people in our society, and to connect between cultures, I am happy that I can invite my friends to eat meat and maqluba in Rahat, and be their guests in the backyards of the kibbutz Shoval, where they play guitar and sing songs of by Yehudit Ravitz. I am happy that I can hike through the land with my friends and I am most happy when they learn Arabic, try to talk to me in Arabic, and ask me to help them,” he wrote.
Abu Latif also urged Israelis to unite against Hamas, writing that Gaza is “completely different” and controlled by “murderous terrorist organizations that make no distinction between Jew and Arab.”
“The Bedouin community mourns the civilians killed despite having done no wrong, Jews, Christians, or Muslims. I would like to take this chance to wake up everyone who read this – we are all part of the same destiny, and we all need to be together and united,” he wrote.