Six Palestinians managed to escape maximum security prison in Israel

Israeli forces launched a massive search in the north of the country and the occupied West Bank after six Palestinian prisoners who escaped overnight of a maximum security facility in northern Israel, authorities said on Monday. Such leaks are extremely rare.

According to the police, they installed roadblocks and patrols are carried out in the zone. The IDF radio station said 400 more prisoners were being transferred as a precaution against possible escape attempts.

The network said the fugitives escaped overnight from Gilboa prison, which is believed to be one of the safest facilities in the country. The men came out through a tunnel and apparently received help from outside.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett said it was “a serious incident” which requires maximum effort from the various branches of Israel’s security.

He said he was receiving constant updates on the leak, which happened just hours before Israel celebrated the Jewish New Year. Apparently the authorities they don’t believe fugitives pose a threat to the general population and there was no instruction for the citizens to change their routines.

The men are believed to be heading for Jenin, where the internationally recognized Palestinian Authority has minimal control and where extremists have had open clashes with Israeli forces in recent weeks. Israeli helicopters flew over Jenin on Monday morning.

The Palestinian Prisoners Club, which represents detainees and former prisoners, identified the fugitives as men between 26 and 49 years old.

These include Zakariye Zubeidi, imprisoned since 2019. Zubeidi led the Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigade, a group affiliated with the Fatah movement, during the second Palestinian uprising more than 20 years ago.

Four other prisoners were serving life sentences, the group added.

The Israeli press has published images of what is supposed to be the exit of the tunnel. In one photograph, a security member wearing a black shirt inspects a hole in the ground.

Palestinian extremist groups were quick to praise the escape.

“It is a heroic act, which will undermine Israel’s security system and will mean a big blow to the army and the entire Israeli system, said Daoud Shehab, spokesman for Islamic Jihad.

Hamas spokesman Fawzi Brhoum also described the escape and said it shows “that the struggle for the freedom of the occupiers is continuous and extensive, inside and outside the prisons, to exercise this right “.

Source: AP