Nazareth - “Arab Jerusalem”:
Amid a state of embarrassment and confusion, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett considered that the escape of six Palestinian prisoners from Gilboa Prison (north of Mount Faqqu’a) through a tunnel they dug under a sink is a “dangerous event that requires all security services to move.”
It seems that this operation is bigger and deeper than the escape of six Palestinian prisoners, as it is not only a blow to the jailers and his administration in Gilboa Prison, but rather a blow to the prestige and image of the new Bennett government, which is being subjected to criticism and accusations of weakness and hesitation in succession, the last of which was after the killing of the Israeli officer at the border with Gaza last week.
Hours after the operation in Gilboa, it was revealed that special forces had entered Jenin and its area and activated all intelligence and logistical capabilities, noting criticism directed at the prison authorities because these prisoners were originally classified as dangerous and candidates for escape. Bennett spoke with Internal Security Minister Omer Bar-Lev following the prisoners' escape, and said, according to a statement published by his office, that "this is a serious event that requires all security services to act immediately to arrest them." Bar Lev, who arrived at Gilboa prison, which witnessed a failed attempt to escape prisoners in 2014, said that it is about careful and detailed planning that received external support, noting the existence of voids and spaces between the prison sections.
He continued, "It appears that the fugitive prisoners have sought help from outside, and it is certain that the escape involves a big mistake, and it is a dangerous event that should not happen, and we will draw lessons and announce them publicly with transparency." The commander of the North District in the Israeli prison authorities said that the escape took place after a defect or failure in the building and bases of the prison, which was built in 2004, denying the option of digging a tunnel.
Digging under the sink
A statement issued by the Israeli Prime Minister added that the Israeli Prime Minister is being informed of the latest information about the search and investigation of Palestinian prisoners, and that he will “consult consultations as needed.” For its part, the occupation army confirmed that its forces and the Shin Bet security service “support the police and prison authorities in the search for Palestinian prisoners,” adding in a statement that “several aerial means have been allocated for reconnaissance work,” noting that the forces are deployed in the occupied West Bank.
Officials in the prison authorities and the Israeli police confirmed the immediate start of a large-scale combing operation involving the police, special forces and the army. Police dogs and helicopters were also used, in addition to setting up checkpoints around the area. The Israeli prison authorities published photos and videos showing a narrow tunnel dug under a sink in the bathroom of a cell. The Palestinian Prisoners Club published the statements of the six prisoners, who are the former military commander, member of the Revolutionary Council of Fatah, and the head of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in Jenin, Zakaria Zubeidi, who comes from the city of Jenin in the West Bank and has been detained since 2019, in addition to five others belonging to the Islamic Jihad movement.
A heroic and brave act
In turn, the "Hamas" movement in the Gaza Strip praised the "heroic and courageous act" of escaping the Palestinian prisoners, and said in a statement published on its official website: "If a number of prisoners in Israeli prisons managed to wrest their freedom, despite all the security measures and complications, it is a brave and heroic act." And a victory for the will and determination of our heroic prisoners, and a real challenge to the Israeli security system, which boasts that it is the best in the world.”
The movement's spokesman, Fawzi Barhoum, indicated in a statement that the tunnel had been dug in recent months, and its length reaches tens of meters, while the Israeli Prison Authority said that matters are still under examination. And it published a picture of the six prisoners, as the remaining five belong to Islamic Jihad, in addition to a picture of the tunnel through which they are suspected of having escaped.
According to the Hebrew radio, it was reported that the prisoners escaped at exactly four o'clock in the morning, while a command room for the Israeli Police and the Prisons Authority was established. It quoted a source who told her that the prisoners managed to get away from the area. After the failure of their arrest, the occupation forces escalated extensive search and combing operations in the area in search of the prisoners, using helicopters, light unmanned aircraft, and hundreds of members of the devices. Reportedly, large forces of the occupation army set up checkpoints in the West Bank, in an attempt to prevent them from escaping to Jordan.
outside help
A source from the Israeli Prisons Authority said that the prisoners planned to escape with the help of external sources, including using a phone that was smuggled into the prison, and the tunnel was opened through the toilet sewers, and from there they dug an exit. It was added that the prisoners escaped by car. According to Haaretz, quoting an official in the Prisons Authority, the farmers noticed the presence of six people in the area and reported them to the Israeli police, and only then did the prison administration learn about their disappearance.
The preliminary examination showed that the six escaped prisoners were in the same cell, and that the length of the tunnel they dug reached tens of meters. The entrance to the tunnel was discovered a few meters outside the prison walls and hidden with weeds. According to another source in the Israeli Prisons Authority, the security services fear two things: the possibility that some prisoners might try to carry out operations, and the fear of trying to escape through Jordan. While a senior official in the Israeli Prisons Authority described the escape as “a major failure that had not been noticed before,” adding: “Under the eyes of the prison and intelligence leaders, six prisoners managed for a long time to plan with external elements to escape from the prison and dig a tunnel.”
It is noteworthy that the history of the Palestinian captive movement witnessed operations and attempts to escape from the fortified Israeli prisons, including the “Great Escape” operation, which was the first escape of Arab and Palestinian prisoners that took place in 1958 from Shata prison near to Gilboa prison. At that time, the Arab and Palestinian prisoners rebelled against the Israeli jailers, kidnapped some of their weapons, killed two of them, and enabled dozens of prisoners to escape towards Faqqu’a Mountain, north of Jenin in the West Bank, which was under Jordanian rule at the time. .
Mansour said that the great escape from Shatta in 1958 was complex and heroic with many Arab prisoners who mainly cooperated with Egyptian and Syrian intelligence, noting the presence of 4,500 Palestinian prisoners today, including about 70 Palestinians inside, to whom 50 have been added since the last May gift, and they are awaiting their trials. Munir Mansour also recalls that some Palestinian prisoners managed to escape from the bars several times, including the fighter Hamza Younis, the son of the town of Ara inside the lands of 48, who resides today in the State of Sweden. He managed to escape three times and is therefore known as mercury.