Yehonatan Deutsch, from Beit She'an, Murdered in Jordan Valley Shooting Attack
Yehonatan Deutsch, aged 23 from Beit She’an, was murdered on Sunday, August 11, in a drive-by shooting attack on the road leading to the village of Rotem 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.
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 the 23-year-old dead a short time later. A MDA helicopter evacuated the moderately wounded victim who was suffering from wounds to his lower extremities.
Security forces are searching for the terrorists who fled the scene after committing the attack. According to Palestinian Arab reports, IDF forces have begun operating in the villages of Kardala and Bardala in the northern Jordan Valley.
According to a preliminary investigation, two terrorists fired at least eight bullets at the two vehicles traveling on the eastbound Route 90. The terrorist carried out the attack with a rifle and the two attacked vehicles were 250 meters apart from each other. (INN/ VFI News)
“Lord, we pray for the family of Yehonatan Deutsch and we send our heartfelt condolences to them. We pray that they turn to You for healing and that You comfort them and give them Your peace that transcends all understanding amid their grief. We also pray in Yeshua’s name for the quick recovery of the 33-year-old who was wounded during the attacks and for the shooters to be apprehended as soon as possible so they don’t cause further harm.”