Israel attacked Hamas facility in response to launching incendiary balloons from Gaza

Israel on Tuesday launched a series of airstrikes against what it claims to be a military installation of the terrorist group Hamas in the Gaza Strip., after incendiary balloons were sent into Israeli territory, the military reported. Meanwhile, the search for six Palestinian prisoners who escaped from maximum security prison in one of the biggest leaks of its kind in decades.

Fighter jets attacked a Hamas rocket workshop as well as a Hamas military compound in Khan Yunis, a city in southern Gaza, according to an army statement.

The army assured that in the complex is a cement factory used for the construction of tunnels through which terrorist attacks are carried out and “is intentionally located in a civilian area adjacent to a mosque and a water treatment facility”.

Attacks were in response to incendiary balloons Hamas sent into Israeli territory, assured the army.

The devices were a demonstration of support for the six fugitives, which Hamas and other Palestinian extremists hailed as part of a heroic victory.

For Israel, escape – through a secret tunnel and possibly with outside help – the escape it is a serious setback for the security forces. Large-scale searches continued in the north of the country and the occupied West Bank on Tuesday as Israel celebrates the Jewish New Year.

Apparently the fugitives are hiding and there is no indication that the Israeli authorities perceive them as an immediate threat.

Palestinians see prisoners held by Israel as heroes of their national cause, and many celebrated the leak on social media. Efforts to capture the escapees are likely to draw attention to the security coordination of the Palestinian Authority with Israel, which is deeply unpopular with the Palestinians. There was no immediate comment from the PA, but the presidential Fatah party Mahmoud Abbas hailed the escape.

A photo released by the prison service showed a narrow hole in the floor of a cell, and Israeli security forces could be seen examining a similar hole just outside the prison walls.

The Israeli authorities have set up roadblocks and are carrying out patrols in the area. IDF Radio said that 400 prisoners are transferred on a preventive basis against any other escape attempt. The radio said the prisoners escaped through a tunnel from Gilboa prison in the northern West Bank, which is believed to be one of Israel’s safest facilities.

This is apparently the largest Palestinian escape from an Israeli prison since 1987., when six militants of the Islamic Jihad group escaped from a heavily guarded prison in Gaza months before the outbreak of the first intifada, or Palestinian uprising against Israel.

The escapees are believed to be heading to their hometown of Jenin, in the occupied West Bank, about 25 kilometers. The Palestinian Authority exercises little control in the city, where militants have clashed with Israeli forces in recent weeks. On Monday morning, Israeli helicopters were seen flying over Jenin.

The Palestinian Prisoners Club, which represents prisoners and former prisoners, has identified the men between the ages of 26 and 49.

The best known is Zakaria Zubeidi, 46, who was a prominent leader of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, an armed group affiliated with Fatah, during the second Intifada, between 2000 and 2005. He was subsequently granted amnesty along with other militants affiliated with Fatah , but he was arrested again in 2019 on what Israeli authorities described as further suspicion of terrorism.

(With AP information)

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