Six Palestinian prisoners escape from maximum security prison in Israel
A new chapter has been added to the already complicated situation between Israelis and Palestinians, this time unrelated to the territorial conflict. On Monday morning, 6 September, six Palestinian men escaped from a maximum security prison in Gilboa, a mountain range in northwestern Israel. According to the authorities, the escapees were convicted on terrorism charges and all had life sentences for deadly attacks against the Israeli population.
The prisoners who managed to escape from this prison did so through a tunnel they dug themselves. The police spokesman said that "following the report from the Israeli Prison Services about the six Gilboa prisoners, a strong police force, together with the Border Police and the army, began search and capture operations". As Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennet has also stated, this is a "dangerous event", not least because one of the escapees is, according to the Hebrew press, Zakaria Zubeidi, a former commander of the Fatah military wing in the city of Jenin.
Israeli forces have already begun searching for the fugitives throughout the north of the country and have even made the army available in case it is necessary to intervene in the West Bank region, which according to the military itself is "ready and deployed". Police, army and Shin Bet - Israel's intelligence and security service - have been engaged in an intensive search, setting up checkpoints with sniffer dogs around the Gilboa area.
The army's own spokesman, Avichai Adraee, issued a statement saying that "the army and the Shin Bet are supporting the police and the Prisons Authority in the search for security prisoners who escaped from Gilboa prison this morning". He further stated that "the army is deployed in the West Bank", confirming intentions previously announced by local media. He concluded by explaining that "the prime minister is informed of the latest information on the search and investigation operations for the fugitives, and will make the necessary consultations", should larger-scale action be necessary.
As a precautionary measure and in view of the possibility of more prison escape tunnels, the other 400 prisoners - all of them detained for "security offences" - have already been relocated, according to IPS. The six escapees are believed to be heading for Jenin, located in the northern West Bank, where Palestinians have minimal control and where there have been recent open clashes with Israeli forces.
The escape of the six Palestinian prisoners has been quickly applauded by extremist groups in the region as a "heroic act". They believe it will "shake Israel's security system and deal a heavy blow to the army and the entire Israeli system", said Islamic Jihad spokesman Daoud Shehab, while Hamas spokesman Fawzi Brhoum said the escape demonstrates "that the struggle for freedom from the occupiers is continuous and widespread, inside and outside the prisons, to exercise this right".
