Thai national killed by anti-tank missile in north Israel, say first responders

JURUSALEM (AFP): A Thai agricultural worker was killed by an anti-tank missile fired into northern Israel, Israeli emergency services said on Friday, while the army confirmed that two civilians were injured in a strike from Lebanon.

Israel has been battling Hezbollah since the Iran-backed militant group started launching cross-border attacks from Lebanon in support of its Palestinian ally Hamas following the October 7, 2023 attack.

“Following an anti-tank missile strike on farmland in Upper Galilee, (rescue workers) declared the death of a 27-year-old Thai foreign worker,” according to a statement from emergency service provider Magen David Adom (MDA).

Thai nationals in Israel have been particularly hard hit since the start of the war with Hamas, with at least 39 killed as a result of the October 7 attack on southern Israel.

More than two dozen are believed to have been captured by militants during the attack.

During a brief November truce, 23 Thais were released from captivity.

The Israeli army said two Thai nationals had died in captivity in Gaza in May.

About 30,000 Thai nationals live in Israel, where salaries are much higher than in the southeast Asian kingdom.

After over eleven months of cross-border clashes that displaced tens of thousands of people on both sides of the Israel-Lebanon border, the Israeli army intensified its air strikes against Hezbollah from mid-September and later launched limited ground operations in southern Lebanon. – AFP