Anti-tank missile from Lebanon kills IDF soldier

An Israeli reserve soldier was killed on Friday in an anti-tank missile attack along the Lebanese border.

The Israel Defense Forces on Saturday named the soldier as Staff Sgt. Omer Balva, 22, from Herzliya.

He was a squad leader in Battalion 9203 of the Alexandroni Brigade, a reserve infantry unit.

On Saturday, the IDF conducted an airstrike against a terror cell in Southern Lebanon that had launched an anti-tank missile at the town of Margaliot, wounding two Thai workers.

The IDF also struck a terror squad that earlier Saturday launched a rocket towards the contested Mount Dov region along the border.

The military said it conducted several strikes overnight Friday against Hezbollah targets in Southern Lebanon, in response to anti-tank missile and rocket attacks by the Iranian-backed terrorist group.

The targets included a “series of military facilities used by the organization for operational needs.”

“The IDF is ready for all scenarios in the various sectors and will continue to act for the security of Israeli citizens,” added the military.

The IDF on Friday said it would begin evacuating the northern city of Kiryat Shmona amid intensifying attacks from Hezbollah-controlled Lebanon.

The decision to move residents of the city to state-subsidized guesthouses was approved by Israeli Defense Minister Yoav Gallant.

Kiryat Shmona has a population of 22,500, although many residents have already fled due to the war.

The IDF said that 20-30 mortar shells were fired on Friday from Lebanon towards the contested Mount Dov border region, to which the military responded with artillery shelling against the sources of fire.

The IDF also hit three Hezbollah terrorists near the security barrier along the frontier.

Hezbollah on Friday said it targeted IDF posts along the border with Lebanon with anti-tank missiles and gunfire.

Six Israelis—five soldiers and a civilian—have been killed on the northern front since the Hamas terror rampage in the south that left more than 1,400 people dead and thousands wounded, and at least 203 held hostage in the Gaza Strip.