An Israeli Border Police officer wounded in Saturday night’s counterterror raid near the Samaria city of Tulkarem succumbed to his wounds on Wednesday.
Chief Inspector Yatev Lev Halevi, an officer from the Yamam National Counter-Terrorism Unit, was shot during a raid on a Hamas cell. Halevi was the son of Yoram Halevi, who once commanded the unit.
The Hamas cell was responsible for the terrorist murder of off-duty Israel Defense Forces reservist Elhanan Klein, 29, a father of three from Einav near the Beit Lid Junction last November.
The cell also carried out a bombing that wounded two Israelis last month.
On Tuesday, Israeli forces concluded another major counterterrorism operation in Tulkarem. The IDF-led operation, which lasted for more than 20 hours, saw one terrorist killed and six suspects arrested.
Forces searched more than 60 buildings, seizing weapons and destroying workshops for the production of explosives, the army said.
As Israel battles Hamas in Gaza, the country’s Judea, Samaria and Jordan Valley regions are experiencing a rise in terrorist incidents.
In the seven months since the Oct. 7 Hamas-led invasion from the Gaza Strip, approximately 4,000 wanted terrorists have been arrested by Israeli forces throughout Judea, Samaria and the Jordan Valley, including some 1,700 associated with Hamas.