Hundreds of residents of the Israeli Arab town of Taibeh paid a condolence visit on Friday to the family of Yunis Madani Azzam, a 27-year-old who is believed to have died while fighting in the ranks of Islamic State in Syria.
The Azzam family confirmed on Friday that Yunis Madani Azzam was killed in Palmyra, the ancient city in central Syria that was taken over by ISIS.
Yunis Azzam traveled to Turkey five months ago to join the radical jihadist organization that has conquered wide swaths of Iraq and Syria.
“We received a telephone call informing us that our son was severely wounded in the fighting in Palmyra and that he died of his wounds,” said the young man’s father, Abdel Qadr Madani. “We were in shock, for we were hoping that he would return to us safe and sound.”
“A few days ago, I received a phone call from him,” one of Yunis Azzam’s friends said. “He told me he was about to take part in a very difficult battle. He asked me to send a blessing to his family and friends.”
“To this day, I have no idea how he decided to go to Syria and take part in the war,” he said. “This is a young man who is very successful and very unique. We never got the sense that he had plans to leave the country.”