Israel’s military said Monday that an Israeli civilian was killed by Israeli artillery near the country’s border with Lebanon, acknowledging it as a misfire during operations against Hezbollah as fighting continues.
The Israeli military said the man, identified as Ofer Moskovitz, a 60-year-old avocado farmer from the border community of Misgav Am, was struck by artillery fire that had been aimed at targets in southern Lebanon.
The military initially believed Moskovitz was killed by cross-border fire but later determined its own forces were responsible, according to Reuters.
The head of Israel’s northern command, Maj. Gen. Rafi Milo, said in a statement that Moskovitz “was killed by our own forces’ fire during an operation whose entire purpose was to protect them.”
The Israeli military said it faced “operational errors” during the strike, including firing at an incorrect angle and failing to follow standard procedures. It said several artillery shells landed inside Israel instead of across the border, hitting the area where Moskovitz was working.
The incident marks the first known Israeli civilian death along the Lebanon border in the latest round of fighting, which erupted this month as part of the broader regional war primarily involving the United States, Israel, Iran, and Iranian-backed groups. Israel has reported two service member deaths.
Israel has been engaged in near-daily exchanges of fire with Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed militant group, which began launching rockets and drones into northern Israel in what it says is support for Iran following Israeli and U.S. strikes.
Israeli forces have responded with airstrikes, artillery fire, and limited group operations in southern Lebanon aimed at pushing Hezbollah fighters away from the border and degrading the group’s military infrastructure.
The campaign has come at a high cost for Lebanon, where more than 1,000 people have been killed and over 1 million displaced, according to humanitarian groups.
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The misfire is the latest in a series of incidents highlighting the risks of operating in densely contested border areas.
Earlier this month, Israeli tank fire mistakenly struck a United Nations peacekeeping position in southern Lebanon, wounding several people. Israel said it regretted the incident but added that it was responding to missile fire from Hezbollah that wounded two of its soldiers.