Israeli police arrests 2 more escaped Palestinian prisoners

Jerusalem, Sep 11 (EFE).- Israeli police on Saturday arrested two more of the six Palestinian prisoners who escaped from Gilboa prison in northern Israel through a tunnel.

Zakaria Zubeid and Mohamad al-Arida, were found hiding in a truck parking lot in the northern Israeli town of Umm al-Ghanem, a police spokesperson said in a statement.

Zubeid was a commander of Fatah’s military wing, the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, in the West Bank city of Jenin.

Mohamad al-Arida, believed to be the mastermind of Monday’s escape, was a member of the Islamic Jihad, along with his brother Mahmud and Yaqoub Qadiri, who were both arrested on Friday night in Nazareth.

The four fugitives were serving life sentences on convictions for carrying out deadly attacks against Israelis.

A manhunt was ongoing for Ayham Kamamji, sentenced to life imprisonment since 2006 for kidnapping and murdering an Israeli settler, and Munadel Infeiat, who was in jail awaiting judgment. Both are alleged members of the Islamic movement of Islamic Jihad.

The six men who tunneled out of Gilboa prison hailed from the West Bank city of Jenin, where Israeli forces searching for the escapees seized three other Al-Arida brothers earlier on Friday.

Both Islamic Jihad and Hamas, the Islamist movement that governs Gaza, threatened reprisals if any of the fugitives was harmed.

Shortly after Friday’s arrests, a rocket was launched from Gaza at Israel, which retaliated by targeting military sites used by armed militias in the Strip. EFE

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