New Delhi:A Lebanese anti-tank missile hit an orchard near Margaliot, a northern Israeli border village, on Monday, killing one Indian national and wounding two others,news agency PTI reported. The three casualties were from Kerala, a state in southern India. The missile struck a moshav (a type of cooperative farming community) in Margaliot, located in the Galilee region of northern Israel, around 11 am on Monday, PTI learned from Zaki Heller, a spokesperson for the emergency medical service Magen David Adom (MDA).
The deceased was identified as Patnibin Maxwell from Kollam in Kerala. His body was taken to Ziv hospital, according to official sources. The injured were Bush Joseph George and Paul Melvin, who were rushed to different hospitals for medical attention, they added.
“George suffered injuries on his face and body and was transported to the Beilinson hospital in Petah Tikva. He had surgery, is in stable condition, and is under observation. He was able to talk to his family in India,” an official source told PTI.
Melvin sustained minor injuries and is being treated at Ziv Hospital in Safed, a northern Israeli city. He hails from the Idukki district of Kerala. MDA initially said that one foreign worker died and seven others were hurt in the attack.
The assailants are suspected to be from the Shi’ite Hezbollah group in Lebanon, which has been firing rockets, missiles, and drones at northern Israel on a daily basis since October 8 in solidarity with Hamas during the ongoing conflict in the Gaza Strip.
MDA said that the attack injured seven foreign workers in total, two of them critically, and they were taken to Beilinson, Rambam, and Ziv hospitals by ambulances and Israeli Air Force helicopters. Israel Defence Forces (IDF) said on Monday that they retaliated by bombarding the launch site with artillery fire.
The IDF also said that they hit a Hezbollah facility where the group’s members were congregated in the southern Lebanese town of Chihine, and another Hezbollah site in Ayta ash-Shab. Hezbollah has been targeting Israel’s northern villages and military bases since October 8, claiming to do so in support of Gaza.
The clashes between Israel and Hezbollah have claimed the lives of seven civilians and 10 IDF soldiers on the Israeli side. Hezbollah has announced the names of 229 members who have fallen to Israel in the recent escalations. Most of the Hezbollah fatalities occurred in Lebanon, but some also in Syria.
Another 37 operatives from other factions, a Lebanese soldier, and at least 30 civilians have also perished since October 8.
