Civilian killed by Hezbollah anti-tank missile named as Meir Mouyal, 55

Meir Mouyal, 55, was identified on Wednesday as the civilian killed by an anti-tank missile fired by Hezbollah in Lebanon earlier this week.

Mouyal, a resident of Kiryat Shmona, was situated near the northern community of Kibbutz Yiftah at the time of the attack on Monday, which Hezbollah has since claimed responsibility for.

In a post confirming his identity, the Kiryat Shmona municipality said that at the time of his death Mouyal was “on a mission for the state and the Israel Defense Forces,” but did not elaborate further.

In accordance with instructions issued to residents of the north by the Home Front Command, Mouyal will be buried in a family-only funeral service.

Since Hamas’s onslaught on October 7 and the subsequent war inside Gaza, where Israel seeks to topple the ruling terror group, the Iran-backed Hezbollah has conducted and overseen daily assaults on Israel’s northern border from Lebanon, but has stopped short of launching a full-scale campaign.

Israel, too, has attempted to walk a fine line, responding with significant firepower to attacks and attempted attacks, while trying to avoid actions that would escalate the conflict as it seeks to keep its focus on Gaza.

An IDF artillery unit fires towards Lebanon near the Israeli border with Lebanon, northern Israel, November 2, 2023. (Ayal Margolin/Flash90)

The persistent skirmishes along the border have resulted in two civilian deaths on the Israeli side, as well as the deaths of six IDF soldiers.

According to AFP, at least 81 people have been killed. The toll includes at least 60 Hezbollah members, eight Palestinian terrorists, a number of civilians and one Reuters journalist.

On Wednesday, two IDF soldiers were wounded by an anti-tank missile fired from Lebanon at troops in the area of the northern community of Dovev.

Ziv Medical Center in Safed, where the soldiers are being treated, said that one was wounded by the blast impact and the other by shrapnel. The hospital confirmed that they are both in good condition.

The IDF said that two more rockets were fired Wednesday at the Shtula and Yiftah areas on the border and that troops responded with artillery shelling at the sources of the fire.

The military said it struck a number of anti-tank launch positions in southern Lebanon on Wednesday.