An Indian national was killed and another two were injured on Monday when an anti-tank missile fired from Lebanon struck an orchard near Israel’s northern border community of Margaliot, officials said.

All three victims are from the southern state of Kerala.

The missile hit a plantation in Margaliot, a moshav (collective agricultural community), in the Galilee region in the north of Israel around 11 am on Monday, Zaki Heller, spokesperson for rescue services Magen David Adom (MDA), told PTI.

Patnibin Maxwell from Kollam in Kerala was killed in the attack. His body was identified in Ziv hospital, official sources said.

Bush Joseph George and Paul Melvin were injured and taken to hospitals for treatment, they said.

“George was taken to the Beilinson hospital in Petah Tikva after suffering injuries on face and body. He underwent an operation, is recovering well, and has been kept under observation. He could speak with his family in India,” an official source told PTI.

Melvin was slightly injured and is hospitalized at Ziv Hospital in the northern Israeli city of Safed. He is from the Idukki district of Kerala.

MDA earlier said one foreign worker was killed and seven others were injured in the attack.

The attack is believed to have been carried out by the Shi’ite Hezbollah faction in Lebanon, which has been launching rockets, missiles, and drones at northern Israel daily since October 8 in support of Hamas amid the ongoing war in the Gaza Strip.

MDA said seven foreign workers were injured altogether in the attack, two of them seriously, and were taken to Beilinson, Rambam, and Ziv hospitals in their ambulances and Israeli Air Force helicopters.

Israel Defence Forces (IDF) on Monday said they responded by shelling the launch site with artillery.

The IDF also said it struck a Hezbollah compound where members of the group were gathered in the southern Lebanon town of Chihine, and another site belonging to Hezbollah in Ayta ash-Shab.

Hezbollah has been launching attacks on Israel’s northern communities and military posts since October 8 saying it is doing so to support Gaza.

The skirmishes between Israel and Hezbollah have resulted in the death of seven civilians and 10 IDF soldiers on the Israeli side.

Hezbollah has named 229 members who have been killed by Israel during recent flare ups. Most of the casualties on the Hezbollah side happened in Lebanon but also some in Syria.

Another 37 operatives from other groups, a Lebanese soldier, and at least 30 civilians have also been killed since October 8.

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The National Investigation Agency (NIA) today conducted raids at multiple locations in a case related to the radicalisation of prisoners by a Lashkar-e-Taiba (LeT) terrorist, an official said.

The search operations were carried out at as many as 17 places in Karnataka, Tamil Nadu, and five other states, linked to the suspects as part of continuing investigations into the case registered in October.

The case was originally registered by the Bengaluru City Police in July 2023, following the seizure of arms, ammunition, hand grenades and walkie-talkies from the possession of seven of the accused persons. The recovery was made while the seven men were gathered in the house of one of the accused.

Investigations into the case, which was taken over by the NIA in October 2023, revealed that T Naseer, who has been serving a life sentence in Central Prison in Bengaluru since 2013, had come in contact with the other accused while they were all lodged in Bengaluru Prison in 2017.

In the first Indian casualty in the Israel-Hamas war, a man from Kerala died in a missile strike in north Israel’s Margaliot yesterday. The Israel embassy in India said in a statement this morning that two others were injured in the “cowardly” attack by Hezbollah.

We are deeply shocked and saddened by the death of one Indian national and the injury of two others due to a cowardly terror attack launched by Shia Terror organization Hezbollah, on peaceful agriculture workers who were cultivating an orchard at the northern village of Margaliot…

— Israel in India (@IsraelinIndia) March 5, 2024

The three were cultivating an orchard at the time of the missile strike, the statement said. The Israel embassy has said its prayers go out to the families of the dead and the injured. “Israeli Medical institutions are completely at the service of the injured, who are being treated by our very best medical staff. Israel regards equally all nationals, Israeli or foreign, who are injured or killed due to terrorism. We will be there to support the families and offer them assistance,” it said.

“Our countries, who are sadly well versed in civilian loss, stand united in hopes of a speedy recovery for the injured and solace for the family of the bereaved,” the statement added.

The anti-tank missile was fired from Lebanon, news agency PTI has reported. The Shia faction of Hezbollah has been carrying out rocket strikes and drone attacks in north Israel in support of Hamas since the war began.