India Advises Nationals in Israel to Leave Border Areas After Citizen Killed in Hezbollah Strike

India’s embassy in Israel on Tuesday issued an advisory telling its nationals working in the Jewish state to move away from border areas to safer parts of the country.

“In view of the prevailing security situation and local safety advisories, all Indian nationals in Israel, especially those working in or visiting border areas in the north and south, are advised to relocated to safe areas within Israel,” the guidance read.

The advisory came one day after an Indian was killed by Hezbollah rocket fire near the Lebanon border in northern Israel. The Lebanese terrorist group, which is backed by Iran, fired a barrage of rockets at northern Israel, some of which landed in agricultural fields.

The deceased was Pat Nibin Maxwell, 31, from the Indian city of Kollam, according to the Hindustan Times, which added that two more people from the same area were also injured in the attack.

Maxwell, who left behind a daughter and pregnant wife, had reportedly arrived in Israel two months ago and was working on a farm at the time of the attack

“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 the Shia terror organization Hezbollah, on peaceful agriculture workers who were cultivating an orchard at the northern village of Margaliot yesterday early afternoon,” Israel’s embassy in India said in a statement.

In total, nine civilians, including the three Indian nationals, were injured in the Hezbollah strikes. The other six individuals were being treated in nearby hospitals. The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) struck a number of Hezbollah outposts in response to the barrage.

The terror group and Israel have been exchanging near-daily fire since the eruption of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza in early October, forcing tens of thousands of Israelis in the north to evacuate their homes. Hezbollah has been firing rockets and sending surveillance drones, targeting northern Israel.

Fighting at the Lebanese border has intensified in recent months, leading to concerns that the conflict in Gaza — the Palestinian enclave ruled by Hamas, another Iran-backed Islamist terror group, to Israel’s south — could escalate into a regional conflict.

Israeli leaders have said that while they do not seek war with Hezbollah and hope for a diplomatic resolution to the escalating tensions, they are prepared to use significant military force to combat the terror group and allow evacuees to return to their homes in northern Israel.