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| Israel-Palestine-Jordan |
| Jailbreak probe said to find 11 Gilboa prisoners started tunnel dig in November |
| 2021-09-15 |
| [IsraelTimes] The investigation into the jailbreak of six Palestinian security prisoners from the Gilboa Prison last week has found that inmates of the facility began late last year to dig the tunnel used to escape, with the help of at least five additional prisoners, the Haaretz daily reported on Tuesday. The six fugitives — two of whom are still at large — escaped by digging through the concrete and metal rebar flooring in their bathroom and removing a slab that led to a series of cavities in the prison’s structure. They used these to leave the compound underground and then tunneled their way up to a road on the south side of the facility. According to Tuesday’s report, investigators probing last Monday’s escape believe that at least 11 prisoners were involved in the digging of the tunnel, which began as early as November 2020. The Shin Bet security agency, which is leading the investigation, is reportedly questioning the five prisoners believed to have helped the escapees dig. The prisoners are said to have carried out the digging using plates and pan handles and to have dumped the excavated dirt in the sewer system, in garbage cans, and in hollow shafts they found in their wing. According to the reports earlier this week, a prison guard who was responsible for maintaining the prison’s sewer system knew of recent blockages in the system due to sand, but did not report the blockages to the prison authorities. Security officials additionally suspect that many other prisoners in the Gilboa Prison may have known of the escape, according to the Haaretz report, and that another inmate was set to take part in the jailbreak, but changed his mind at the last minute. Israeli security forces said to arrest brother, cousin of fugitive Palestinian [IsraelTimes] Manhunt for remaining two Gilboa Prison escapees continues in towns and villages surrounding West Bank city of Jenin. Israeli security forces arrested the brother and cousin of runaway terrorist Iham Kamamji early on Monday morning, Paleostinian media reported. According to the reports, Kamamji’s brother Emad, a Jenin resident, was detained, as well as his cousin Qaysar, who hails from the nearby town of Kufr Dan. In addition to the arrests, security forces were reportedly conducting searches in Yamun, Araqah, Ya’bad and Dan — all towns that lie close to the Paleostinian city of Jenin in the northern West Bank. A high-ranking commander in the Hamas, a regional Iranian catspaw, terror group’s West Bank division was also said to be arrested overnight: Yusef al-Laham, a Bethlehem resident. In total, some 15 Paleostinians had been arrested by Monday morning in connection with the runaways, according to Paleostinian media. The Shin Bet security agency, which oversees nighttime search-and-arrest operations in the West Bank, did not respond to a request for comment. |
| Posted by:trailing wife |