Why Oct. 7 has bound Israeli Druze and Jews even more tightly
The events of Oct. 7 are imprinted on Salih’s body and mind.
As he sits outside his former training base in central Israel on a crisp mid-January day, the 20-year-old Israeli Druze soldier recounts carefully the day his unit was deployed to repel a surprise Hamas attack.
That day saw Hamas militants kill 1,200 people, mostly civilians, as they rampaged through southern Israeli towns and kibbutzim, igniting the devastating Israel-Hamas war in Gaza.
The day ended with Salih being seriously wounded in combat. He refuses to discuss certain details. But a single glance from his distant eyes offers a glimpse into the death he saw.
Hamas “did
