6 Palestinians Escape An Israeli High-Security Prison
Gilboa prison staff found a tunnel under a toilet in a cell shared by the escaped prisoners.
If you haven’t watched Prison Break or the Shawshank, you will definitely get amazed at the latest Gilboa incident. In a Hollywood style, six Palestinian prisoners escaped from Gilboa, an Israeli high-security prison on Monday through a tunnel they dug the past two years, leaving the world in shock.
Authorities at Gilboa prison discovered that prisoners were missing during a headcount conducted after civilians spotted figures running near the prison walls at about 3 am, according to the news reports. Prison staff found a tunnel under a toilet in a cell shared by the escaped prisoners.
Arik Yaacov, the Prison Service’s northern, said that after escaping through the hole, they used passages formed by the jail’s construction. Social media users, especially the Arab ones swiftly shared pictures of the tunnel. In the streets, Palestinians are celebrating, and they are even distributing sweets and sodas.
“Today, Islamic Jihad heroes achieved a new victory in the Gilboa prison. This victory smashed the image of the occupier,” said Islamic Jihad official Khamees El-Haitham in Gaza.
It’s noteworthy that five of the six prisoners are affiliated with the Islamic Jihad movement and one is a former commander of an armed group affiliated to the mainstream party, Fatah.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett’s office said he had spoken with Israel’s internal security minister and “emphasized that this is a grave incident that requires an across-the-board effort by the security forces” to find the escapees.
An Israeli official predicts that the escapees might reach the West Bank or the Jordanian border some 14 km (9 miles) to the east.
Earlier this week, the Palestinian Foreign Ministry called on the International Criminal Court (ICC) to open investigations into crimes committed by the Israeli regime in the occupied territories.
In a statement, the ministry slammed the Israeli occupation and its brutality against the Palestinians who demand equality and justice.
It urged, moreover, the international community, topped by the UN Security Council, to pressure Israel to halt its settlements in Mount Sabih.