A 76-year-old Israeli woman and her son have been killed by an anti-tank missile fired from Lebanon as tensions continue to escalate with the terrorist group Hezbollah along Israel’s northern border.
The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) says Mira Ayalon and her son Barak were inside their home in Kfar Yuval on Sunday when it was struck. Barak was 40 years old, and a 74-year-old man from the same family of farmers also was wounded in the attack, Israeli military and medical officials told Reuters.
“May their memory be blessed. Hezbollah is a murderous terrorist organization that kills civilians,” IDF spokesman Brig. Gen. Daniel Hagari said following the strike. “We will not allow harm to civilians, and the price for this will be charged not only tonight, but also in the future.”
Hagari said on Sunday that the IDF “attacked military targets of Hezbollah in Lebanon” in response and that it continues to “damage the organization’s capabilities and charge an ever-increasing price.”
ISRAEL KILLS 4 MILITANTS CROSSING NORTHERN BORDER AS THREAT OF HEZBOLLAH WAR RISES
An Israeli ambulance and soldiers are stationed at the entrance of Kfar Yuval in northern Israel near the Lebanon border on Sunday following the missile strike. (Jalaa Marey/AFP via Getty Images)
The strike that killed the two Israelis came on the same day that the IDF says it killed four militants attempting to cross into the country from Lebanon.
On Monday, the IDF said it “attacked military buildings of the terrorist organization Hamas and located weapons, chargers and even cartridges in a children’s room closet in the house of a Hamas terrorist” in the city of Khan Younis in the Gaza Strip.
It also “confiscated AK-47 rifles, handguns, grenades, RPGs, and diving gear belonging to Hamas’ Naval Forces” and “struck 2 weapon storage facilities from the air and ground.”
WHITE HOUSE URGES ISRAEL TO SCALE BACK GROUND OPERATIONS IN GAZA WAR HITS 100 DAYS
An Israeli mobile artillery unit fires a shell from northern Israel toward Lebanon, on Thursday, Jan. 11. (AP/Leo Correa)
In northern Gaza, the Israeli military reportedly killed five terrorists who were attempting to locate weapons in the area.
The developments come after White House National Security Council spokesperson John Kirby said yesterday that the U.S. is discussing with Israel “a transition to low-intensity operations” in Gaza.
“We believe it’s the right time for that transition. And we’re talking to them about doing that,” he added.
Smoke billows in the area of the Lebanese village of Kfar Kila during Israeli shelling on Sunday, Jan. 14. (Rabih Daher/AFP via Getty Images)
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“We’re not saying let your foot up off the gas completely and don’t keep going after Hamas,” he continued. “It’s just that we believe the time is coming here very, very soon for a transition to this lower intensity phase.”
