A dual Israel-American citizen who grew up in Rockville, Maryland, was killed in a missile attack along the Lebanon border on Friday. In a post on Instagram, Charles E. Smith Jewish Day School announced the death of Omer Balva, 22, who attended the school. Balva was serving with the Israeli Defense Forces and had been called up for reserve duty recently. He was in the U.S. last week when he was called into reserve service, promptly flying back to Israel to report for duty, the Times of Israel reported.
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According to the IDF, the targets of an anti-tank missile attack along the border with Lebanon included a “series of military facilities used by [Hezbollah] for operational needs” and an anti-tank launcher directed at Israel. On Friday evening, during a missile attack against troops operating in the Netu’a and Biranit areas on the northern border, Balva was killed and at least three other soldiers were hurt. WTOP’s Teddy Gelman contributed to this report.
