Hezbollah, the Iranian-backed Shia Muslim terror organization that illegally occupies southern Lebanon, killed two civilians in northern Israel on Sunday when it fired an anti-tank missile at their home.

The Times of Israel reported:

Barak Ayalon, a man in his 40s, and his mother Miri Ayalon, 76, were killed when an anti-tank missile slammed into their home in the border community, in an attack claimed by the Hezbollah terror group.

Barak Ayalon was declared dead at the scene by Magen David Adom medics, while Miri Ayalon died a short time later after being rushed to a hospital in serious condition.

A 74-year-old man, identified in media reports as Barak Ayalon’s father, was treated for acute anxiety, MDA said.

The deaths were the first civilians killed by Hezbollah since a November attack on electrical workers whom Hezbollah appears to have mistaken for soldiers. (Breitbart News was present near the border shortly before that attack.)

The attack came after the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) located and killed Hezbollah operatives who had infiltrated into Israel.

In a statement, the IDF said:

Overnight, IDF soldiers who were on patrol in the Har Dov area encountered three terrorists who had infiltrated from Lebanon into Israeli territory. The terrorists opened fire at the soldiers, and a short while after, the soldiers killed the terrorists.  

During the incident five IDF soldiers were injured, two moderately and an additional three lightly. The injured soldiers were evacuated to a hospital to receive medical treatment. 

Israel and Hezbollah have been trading fire across the border since Hezbollah attacked Israel in solidarity with Hamas, though neither side has unleashed its full capabilities.

There is pressure within Israel to step up the war against Hezbollah so that residents of Israel’s northern communities can live in safety and security.

Hezbollah is barred from the Israel-Lebanon border and is supposed to retreat north of the Litani River, under United Nations Security Council Resolutoin 1701 of 2006. However, United Nations troops and Lebanese authorities have not enforced the resolution.

Joel B. Pollak is Senior Editor-at-Large at Breitbart News and the host of Breitbart News Sunday on Sirius XM Patriot on Sunday evenings from 7 p.m. to 10 p.m. ET (4 p.m. to 7 p.m. PT). He is the author of the 2021 e-book, “The Zionist Conspiracy (and how to join it),” now updated with a new foreword. He is also the author of the recent e-book, Neither Free nor Fair: The 2020 U.S. Presidential Election. He is a winner of the 2018 Robert Novak Journalism Alumni Fellowship. Follow him on Twitter at @joelpollak.