It was cleared for publication on Wednesday evening that the explosion at the Megiddo Junction on Monday which severely injured an Israeli-Arab was carried out by a terrorist who infiltrated Israel from Lebanon.

It is still unknown how the terrorist succeeded in crossing the border from Lebanon into Israel and the possibility that he was assisted by Hezbollah is being investigated. The terrorist planted a bomb that was unusually powerful and sophisticated, which indicated to security forces that it was not the work of Palestinians or Israeli-Arabs.

After the bomb detonated, an extensive manhunt was launched in northern Israel, with roadblocks set up on all roads.

Several hours after the manhunt was launched, a vehicle was stopped near the Israeli town of Ya’ara, close to the Lebanese border, and Yamam counterterrorism officers identified the terrorist. He posed an immediate danger to security forces since he was wearing an explosive suicide belt and they shot and killed him. The identity of the driver is still being investigated and it is unknown at this time whether he was an accomplice or was completely unaware of the terrorist’s identity. The security forces found grenades and other weapons inside the car.

At the moment, the assumption from the investigation is that the terrorist crossed from Lebanon to Israel a few nights prior to the incident – probably overnight Motzei Shabbos. According to the IDF, the terrorist is believed to have acted alone.

In the last two days, there have been many speculations in the media regarding the incident as a gag order was placed on all details of the investigation. Prime Minister Binyamin Netanyahu, who is leaving to Berlin on Wednesday evening, is returning early from his trip, on Thursday evening rather than Friday morning, due to the tense security situation.

The video below shows the arrest of the driver:

(YWN Israel Desk – Jerusalem)