Drone strike kills Hamas terrorists responsible for deadly drive-by shooting

Abu Ara and Doasi killed Yehonatan Deutsch in a drive-by shooting near Moshav Mehola in the northern Jordan Valley on Aug. 11.

By Pesach Benson, TPS

Two Hamas terrorists responsible for a deadly drive-by shooting were killed in an Israeli airstrike in Jenin on Saturday night, Israel’s security establishment said on Sunday morning.

The Israel Defense Forces and the Israel Security Agency (Shin Bet) identified the terrorists as Ahmed Abu Ara and Rafat Doasi of the northern Samaria villages of Al-Aqabah and Silat al-Harithiya respectively. They were killed when a drone struck their vehicle.

According to the army and the Shin Bet, Abu Ara was a senior operative in the production of explosives and was involved in other terror attacks. Doasi was a senior Hamas figure in the Jenin area. Hamas subsequently confirmed that both were senior figures in the terror group’s Jenin network.

Abu Ara and Doasi killed Yehonatan Deutsch in a drive-by shooting near Moshav Mehola in the northern Jordan Valley on Aug. 11. Deutsch, a 23-year-old resident of Beit Shean, had recently been released from the army and became engaged.

Injured in a separate vehicle was 32-year-old Anas Jaramana from the northern Israeli-Arab village of Muqeible.

Hamas also confirmed that Abu Ara and Doasi also planned and carried out a roadside bombing which killed one soldier and injured another 16 in Jenin in June.

Hamas said the two were also responsible for another bombing that injured two Defense Ministry workers at the security barrier separating northern Samaria from the Gilboa region in July.