Israel captures 2 more Palestinian prison escapees

By Yousef Ibrahim

JERUSALEM (AA) – Israeli forces detained two more Palestinian inmates, who escaped from a high-security prison in northern Israel earlier this week, according to local media on Saturday.

The Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper said Zakaria Zubeidi and Mohammed al-Arida were found in a garage in the Umm al-Ghanam area in northern Israel.

Israeli media quoted an Israeli security official as saying that Zubeidi tried to resist his arrest but he was shortly arrested.

The Israeli Walla news website said both inmates were transferred to the Israeli internal security service known as Shin Bet for questioning.

The new arrests bring to four the number of detainees captured by Israeli forces after police arrested Yaqoub Qadiri and Mahmoud al-Arida on Friday in the northern city of Nazareth.

On Monday, six Palestinian prisoners tunneled out of the high-security Gilboa prison in northern Israel. The jailbreak has been hailed as a “big victory” by Palestinians, while Israelis decried it as a major security and intelligence failure.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar