Israeli arrests 4 Palestinians who escaped maximum-security jail

Israeli police captured in the early hours of Saturday two more Palestinians who escaped from a maximum-security prison earlier this week, bringing to four the number of prisoners recaptured.

Authorities have identified the two persons as Zakaria Zubeidi and Mahmoud Al-Arida. The two were reportedly found at a truck garage in northern Israel.

Two more Palestinians remain at-large.

Earlier on Friday, authorities announced they caught the first two of six Palestinian escapees.

In a statement, a police spokeswoman said the two were captured on Mount Precipice, a Christian holy site near Nazareth.

The two men captured were members of the Palestinian group Islamic Jihad, Israeli media reported. Police did not provide their identities.

Israel had launched a massive manhunt for the six prisoners who made a daring jailbreak on Monday from the high-security Gilboa prison through a tunnel dug beneath a sink in a cell.

Earlier on Friday, Palestinians across the occupied West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem took to the streets in solidarity with Palestinian prisoners and protested against their punishment.

Five of the six men who escaped on Monday belong to the Palestinian Islamic Jihad group, while one of them is a senior member of Fatah’s armed wing. The six inmates have either been convicted or are suspected of planning or carrying out deadly attacks against Israelis.

Israel has promised to capture all of the men, and officials say they will investigate any lapses that allowed their escape.

Palestinians have warned Israel against causing harm and endangering the lives of prisoners allegedly detained after they escaped from the prison.

Source: Al-Jazeera