Two of six Palestinian fugitives who escaped Israeli prison captured in north

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Two Palestinian fugitives were captured in Nazareth on Friday, days into a manhunt that began after they escaped from a maximum security Israeli prison along with four others.

Islamic Jihad members Mahmoud Aradeh and Yakub Kadari were caught after civilians spotted two suspicious figures and reported them to the police. The two were taken for questioning by the Shin Bet security services. They did not resist arrest.

Aradeh’s brother, Mohammed, who also fled from Gilboa Prison, is thought to be the one who planned the escape. Zakaria Zubeidi, a former Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigade leader and the most prominent of the escapees, has not been captured.

The arrests came after a family in Nazareth told the police that two Palestinians came to their home, asking for food. This aroused the officers’ suspicion, and they started searching the area until capturing the two escapees. Police are investigating whether the two received help after their made their escape.

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Police believe that the four remaining prisoners are no longer in Israel territory. Israeli intelligence officials have previously said they thought at least some of the fugitives had managed to enter the West Bank.

The six escaped through a tunnel they dug from within their cell, apparently over the last six months. All the escaped convicts – five members of Islamic Jihad and one Fatah member – are residents of the Jenin area.

After the breakout on the night between Sunday and Monday, the conditions of 4,000 security prisoners were further restricted. Thus, the time they are allowed to be in the yard was reduced from four hours to one hour a day, and family visits have been canceled until the end of the month.