Defense Minister Yoav Gallant said on Thursday that the inquiry into the earlier this week highway bombing near Megiddo, which left a man with serious injuries, is progressing.
Wednesday night, Israeli police made the shocking admission that a terrorist from Lebanon had invaded their nation and set the roadside bomb. He later attempted to return to Israel when Israeli soldiers slew him.
But it has not yet done so, the Israel Defense Forces has not ruled out Hezbollah as the organization that sent the terrorist.
“After the assessment that I held today on the northern border, I am impressed with the progress of the incident investigation, the deployment of the military in the [northern] sector, and the comprehensive intelligence work,” Gallant stated on Thursday.
“The security authorities deserve all the kudos for their decisive operations, which resulted in the terrorist’s elimination and the avertance of another assault. Whoever launched the attack will be held accountable, he added.
Shareef ad-Din, a 21-year-old Israeli Arab from Salem, was hurt when the explosive device exploded on Monday at about 6 a.m.
At 18 miles southeast of Haifa, close to the Megiddo Junction, the bomb was hidden behind a barrier by the side of the road.
On the road, it would take another 12.5 miles to go from the Megiddo Junction to the Lebanese border, located 37 miles away as measured by the direction of the wind.
The occurrence is the subject of an urgent investigation conducted by the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet).
According to the IDF, the initial investigation revealed that the explosive device had a configuration that was unusual for the region and not frequently seen in Judea and Samaria.
Following the explosion, the Army, Shin Bet, and Israel Police launched a combined manhunt to apprehend the terrorist, which included setting up roadblocks in northern Israel.
A man driving a car with a suicide vest and a gun was detained at a checkpoint close to the village of Ya’ara. Israeli security agents murdered him with a shot.
One theory is that the terrorist was transported from the border region to Megiddo; a man suspected of serving as his driver is currently in custody.
In advance of his departure for a diplomatic visit to Germany, Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu was updated on the security developments by Gallant on Wednesday.
Shortly after, Netanyahu’s administration announced that the prime would return from Berlin on Thursday night rather than Friday morning as initially planned.
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