On Sunday, with the direction of the ISA, an IAF aircraft struck and eliminated a terrorist cell that carried out several shooting attacks against communities in the Gilboa area.
The head of the cell who was eliminated in the strike, was Wael Lahluh, a 31 year old resident of Qabatiya. Lahluh carried out the shooting attack at the Mehola junction on August 11th, 2024 - an attack in which Yonatan Deutsch was killed and another Israeli civilian was injured.
After carrying out the attack, Lahluh continued to operate in Jenin, recruiting terrorists and planning to carry out additional terror attacks in the near future.
Immediately after the strike, IDF soldiers conducted a targeted raid in the area and located three weapons on the bodies of the terrorists. Moreover, additional weapons parts, military vests, and explosive materials were located.
In their joint statement, the IDF and ISA stressed, "The security forces will continue to operate to thwart every threat against the citizens of the State of Israel."
Yehonatan Deutsch, aged 23 from Beit She'an, was murdered on August 11 in a drive-by shooting attack on the road leading to the village of Rotem in the Jordan Valley.
Just one week prior to the shooting, Yehonatan was released 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 is survived by his parents, four brothers, and one sister.