Israeli military finds no negligence in killing of farmer near Lebanon border

The Israeli military said Sunday it found no negligence or ethical failures by officers involved in the killing of Israeli farmer Ofer Moskovitz near the Lebanese border earlier this month.

The head of Israel's Northern Command had earlier said on March 23 that Israeli forces misfired artillery, killing 60-year-old Moskovitz, an avocado farmer from the town of Misgav Am. The military initially attributed the incident to cross-border fire from Lebanon.

In a statement, the military said, “The inquiry found that the fire was carried out during an operational incident providing close support to the maneuvering forces. It also determined that the error resulted from a convergence of several operational factors and non-optimal firing conditions. Alongside this, no negligence was found, nor was any ethical failure identified among those involved in the firing process within the artillery unit.”

The military added that the head of its ground forces had ordered stricter operational guidelines for artillery fire over civilian communities and infrastructure.

The incident comes amid Israel’s major ground assault and air campaign in Lebanon against Hezbollah, the Iran-backed group that began firing into Israel on March 2, two days after U.S.-Israeli strikes on Iran commenced.

-Reporting by Hatem Maher and Muhammad Al Gebaly; Editing by Susan Fenton and Ros Russell/Reuters