After more than two decades of dedicated military service, Alim Abdallah was preparing for his first taste of civilian life. A demobilization ceremony was planned for October 9, and two days later he was to begin a master’s degree.
However, instead of celebrating these new stages of his life, his family, friends, colleagues and acquaintances gathered in their thousands to pay their last respects at his funeral.
Abdallah, 40, a lieutenant colonel in the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF), was killed on Israel’s northern border with Lebanon on October 9, just two days after Hamas attacked southern Israel, causing the death of 1,200 people, the kidnapping of more than 250 individuals and increasing regional tensions.
His widow, Mona, spoke in an emotional video interview with CNN from their home in Yanuh-Jat, a Druze village near the Lebanese border, about the many dreams they had together and the plans they had planned for future.
The global Druze community, approximately one million members strong, is mainly distributed between Israel, Lebanon and Syria. In Israel, approximately 130,000 Druze reside in Carmel and the Galilee, while another 20,000 live in the Golan Heights, territory annexed by Israel from Syria in the 1967 war. Most Golan Druze consider themselves to be Syrians and rejected offers of Israeli citizenship.
Alim Abdallah, killed on the Israeli-Lebanese border, was a typical example of this fierce national pride of the Druze community. Having served for almost 23 years, he was the deputy commander of the 300th Baram Regional Brigade.
Mona remembers that on October 7, they were running together in the morning, planning to participate in a marathon. But when Hamas attacks broke out, Abdallah rushed to join his brigade, leaving his family behind.
At home, Mona looked after their two teenage daughters and their 9-year-old son. The girls were very scared, waking up at night worrying about their father. Mona recalls: “They were crying, saying they were afraid something would happen to Dad.”
Remembering their last conversation, Mona recalls Abdallah’s comforting last words, assuring him that everything was going to be okay. Unfortunately, he was not to be released from military service as planned.
Abdallah responded to the call when members of his brigade were attacked by militants infiltrating from Lebanon. Two of his men were dead when he arrived, but he managed to rescue another and confront the attackers until he was mortally wounded.
As Abdallah’s family recounts details of the attack, the Israeli military confirmed that he fell in action during a clash with terrorists infiltrating from the Lebanese border.
After his poignant death, Abdallah was buried in the military section of the village cemetery. At his side lies Lt. Col. Salman Habaka, another Druze fighter killed in the Gaza Strip shortly after being at the scene of a Hamas attack where more than 120 people, including children, were killed.
Despite praise for the bravery and loyalty of the Druze in Israel, this reality is not without tensions. Since 2018, protests have taken place in Tel Aviv against Israel’s controversial “nation-state” law. Critics point to its focus on legitimizing Israel as the nation-state of Jews, at the expense of minority rights.
However, despite the challenges and socio-political tensions, the Druze continue to serve with dedication and sacrifice their lives in defense of Israel and its people.