The IDF and security forces continue this morning (Monday) to pursue the terrorist who murdered 23-year-old Beit She'an resident Yehonatan Deutsch and wounded one other civilian in a drive-by shooting attack in the Jordan Valley.
Yehonatan was released last week from active service in the IDF's elite Maglan Unit and saw intense combat during the first months of the war in Gaza. Yehonatan who was scheduled to wed in the coming weeks, was on the way to his fiancée's hometown of Ofra when he was gunned down.
Deutsch graduated from the Beit She'an Yeshiva High School, was a counselor in the Bnei Akiva youth movement, and volunteered a good deal in his city. He left behind parents, four brothers, and one sister.
Beit She'an Mayor Noam Juma eulogized him: "He was an amazing young man in ways that are difficult to describe. A Zionist, with values, was part of the small group who did unbelievable things during the Covid period. A volunteer in every bone of his body, despite the age gap, he was a real friend."
In addition, a 33-year-old was moderately wounded after being shot at the nearby Mehola Junction.
Emergency medical crews tended to the two victims but pronounced Deutsch dead a short time later. A MDA helicopter evacuated the moderately wounded victim who was suffering from wounds to his lower extremities.