The Hollywood-style escape of six Palestinians who escaped almost two weeks ago from a prison in northern Israel ended. The last two were captured by the army in an operation in Jenin.

The detainees (who were in jail for anti-Israeli violence) escaped from the Gilboa maximum security facility on 6 September using a tunnel dug under a sink that led to a hole in the ground outside the fence. From that moment the searches had started with a large deployment of soldiers and drones.

A few days later the first four were blocked in the Nazareth area. The authorities had in particular arrested and then started to interrogate Mahmoud Ardah, a member of the Islamic Jihad jailed since 1996 and considered the mastermind of the operation, and Zakaria al-Zoubeidi, former head of the Fatah party armed wing for the Palestinian camp of Jenin, bulwark of armed rebellion. Today the military announced the arrest in Jenin of the last two fugitives, Ayham Kamamji, 35, and Munadel Infeiat, 26, both of Islamic Jihad. Originally from Kafr Dan, near Jenin, Kamamji was arrested in 2006 and sentenced to life in prison for the kidnapping and murder of Eliahou Asheri, a young Israeli settler. Infeiat was arrested in 2020 and was awaiting sentencing.

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett spoke of an "impressive, sophisticated and fast operation" by the Shin Bet, the police and the army.

(Unioneonline / ss)