A Border Police officer who was critically wounded in a firefight with Palestinian terrorists during a raid in the West Bank over the weekend has succumbed to his wounds on Wednesday.
Chief Inspector Yitav Lev Halevi, 28, a commander in the Border Police's elite Yamam counter-terrorism unit, was wounded during an operation in the town of Dayr al-Ghusun, near Tulkarem, on May 4.
He was admitted with a critical head injury to Rabin Medical Center in Petah Tikva where doctors had to declare him dead after four days of fighting for his life, the hospital said.
"Israel Police and Border Police deeply regret to announce the death of Chief Inspector Yitav Lev Halevi, a commander and fighter in the Yamam anti-terror unit, who sustained critical injuries during an operational activity in Tulkarm,” a joint obituary read.
“Yitav Lev was critically injured and subsequently rushed to Rabin Medical Center, where medical teams battled to save his life in recent days. Israel Police will stand by his bereaved family and support them throughout. May his memory be a blessing."
Israeli security forces operating in Tulkarm, West Bank
(Photo: IDF Spokesperson's Unit)
Officer Halevi joined the national counter-terrorism unit in late 2022, having previously served in the IDF's Maglan commando unit, where he also served as deputy platoon commander. He succeeded Yamam Superintendent Moshel Shlomo, who fell in combat against Hamas terrorists on October 7.
Halevi is the son of Deputy Commissioner (ret.) Yoram Halevi, former head of Yamam, Jerusalem District Police and Southern District Police and current National Road Safety Authority chief.
A joint IDF and Yamam force, acting on intelligence received by the Shin Bet, engaged in a more than 13-hour operation over the weekend against terrorists barricaded in a house in Dayr al-Ghusun. During the exchange of fire, five terrorists involved in the murder of Elhanan Klein near the Palestinian village of Beit Lid last November were eliminated. Another terrorist surrendered himself to security forces.
The terrorist cell was responsible for several shooting, explosive and car bomb attacks. The terrorists were implicated in Klein's murder and an April 7 shooting on Route 55 near the Nabi Elias Junction in the northern West Bank, which left two people injured, including a critically wounded female soldier.
The undercover force entered the town just after midnight and surrounded the house where the terrorists, including a Hamas operative who was later arrested for Shin Bet interrogation, had taken refuge. The prolonged standoff concluded with a precision operation involving two shoulder-fired missiles and a Matador missile strike, alongside gunfire and the use of engineering bulldozers to dismantle the structure.
Klein, a 29-year-old father of four from the settlement of Anav in the northern West Bank, was shot dead while returning home from reserve duty. He was wearing a military uniform when terrorists overtook his vehicle on the road from the Shavei Shomron settlement to Anav and opened fire. Klein lost control of his vehicle, which veered off the road and overturned. He was pronounced dead shortly thereafter.