Several Palestinians escape from Israeli prison, including a senior former militant

Six Palestinians escaped from an Israeli prison on Monday through a tunnel dug under a sink, prompting a massive persecution of the group that includes a prominent former militant.

Israel’s Prison Service said locals raised an alert around 3:00 am (0000 GMT) that they saw “suspicious figures” outside Gilboa prison in the north of the country.

The group includes Zakaria Zubeidi, a former militant leader from the city of Jenin, a hotspot in the occupied West Bank, IPS confirmed in a statement.

In footage reminiscent of the iconic 1994 prison break movie “The Shawshank Redemption,” the service posted a video showing officers inspecting a narrow tunnel under a sink and another showing a hole just outside of the prison walls.

Gilboa, which was inaugurated in 2004 during the second intifada or Palestinian uprising, is a high-security site where hundreds of Palestinians are detained among other prisoners.

The prison service said that all those detained in Gilboa for “security crimes” will be relocated in case additional escape tunnels have been dug under the facilities.

Police, the army and agents from Israel’s Shin Bet internal security agency joined the search, which included aerial surveillance vehicles, authorities said.

Sniffer dogs were deployed and checkpoints were set up around Gilboa.

In particular, the army had been heavily deployed at a crossing point between Israel and the Jenin governorate, verifying the identities of all Palestinian workers attempting to cross, an AFP reporter said.

The army said its forces were “prepared and deployed” in the West Bank as part of the operation.

The jailbreak occurred hours before Israel begins its holiday season, beginning with the Jewish New Year that begins at sunset.

Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called the leak “a serious event that required a comprehensive effort by all security services.”

The prime minister was “receiving regular updates on the search efforts of the terrorists,” a statement said.

Gaza groups cheer

The other five who escaped were charged with planning or carrying out attacks against Israelis.

Hamas, the Islamist group that controls the Gaza Strip blocked by Israel, called the escape “a heroic act and a victory for the will and determination of our heroic detainees.”

Islamic Jihad, one of the most powerful armed groups in Gaza after Hamas, hailed the jailbreak as “a powerful blow to the occupying forces.”

Zubeidi was the former head of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades and a well-known figure among Palestinians and Israelis.

He was arrested on “terrorism charges” in 2019 in a West Bank village near Ramallah.

In the past, he had faced charges from the Palestinian Authority for participating in a shooting attack on the residence of the governor of Jenin, Qaddura Musa, in 2002.

Musa died after suffering a heart attack during the incident, and dozens of people were arrested by Palestinian security forces, including Zubeidi, shortly after.

In 2007, Zubeidi agreed to lay down his arms and helped found Jenin’s Freedom Theater.

In 2011, the well-known Israeli-Palestinian director of the theater, Juliano Mer-Khamis, was shot dead in the Jenin refugee camp, in an attack that remains unsolved.

Riots have also exploded in Jenin in recent weeks. A shooting broke out last month when Israeli forces came under fire while searching for suspects, leaving four Palestinians dead.

(AFP)