Sharif Suad, a civilian truck driver, working with the IDF, was killed in a Hezbollah anti-tank missile attack overnight on the Israel-Lebanon border, the military said on Friday. The IDF struck Hezbollah targets in Lebanon in response.
He was the sixth civilian to be killed by the Iran-backed group and the 19th to die from Hezbollah fire in northern Israel since the war began.
The incident was announced hours after Defense Minister Yoav Gallant met with U.S. President Joe Biden's Mideast envoy Amos Hochstein on Thursday, to discuss the ongoing fighting across the border. Hochstein was on a private family visit but made time to meet with Gallant to talk about the diplomatic efforts underway to resolve the crisis.
Suad participated in the IDF's construction of a land barrier in the Har Dov area, work that is done mainly at night under the cover of darkness to avoid being targeted by the Iran-backed terrorists. However, his truck was exposed making its way along the frontier leading to the strike.
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U.S. envoy Amos Hochstein with Defense Minister Yoav Gallant
(Photo: Defense Ministry)
"The barrage of missiles was intense," Hamudi Asadi, Suad's project manager said. "We were surprised that civilians were targeted. Most often Hezbollah fires at the soldiers. Sharif took a direct hit while we could not be extracted from the line of fire," he said. "Our work is very dangerous but are protecting entire regions."