Israel captures two more escaped Palestinian militants

Israeli police has captured two more Palestinian militants, who were among six who escaped from a maximum security Israeli jail earlier this week.

A police spokeswoman said, “The two men were found hiding in a truck parking lot in an Arab village east of the northern Israeli city of Nazareth, where two other escapees were apprehended.

“With four of the men now captured, Israeli forces carried on a massive manhunt into Saturday morning to find the two that are still at large.

The six escapees, five of whom are members of the Islamic Jihad militant group and one with the mainstream Fatah party, broke free on Monday by tunnelling a hole in the ground adjacent to their cell’s toilet.

One of those captured Saturday morning was Zakaria Zubeidi, a former commander of Fatah’s Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in the West Bank city of Jenin who once received Israeli amnesty.

He was rearrested by Israel in 2019 after his alleged involvement in new shooting attacks.

Palestinians have protested in support of the men across the occupied West Bank and East Jerusalem, seeing them as heroes in their struggle for statehood in territory Israel captured in the 1967 Middle East war.

Palestinian factions said there would be repercussions for the men’s capture.

Kamila/Reuters