Palestinian escapees begged for ride from Arab town to West Bank but were denied

After breaking out of the maximum-security Gilboa prison early on Monday, September 6, the six escaped Palestinian security prisoners headed on foot for the nearby Arab town of Na’ura, some 7 kilometers (4.3 miles) from the jail, where they begged several residents to drive them to the city of Jenin in the West Bank, but were refused, Hebrew media reported Sunday.

Citing details leaked from the Shin Bet interrogation of the four escapees who have been recaptured, particularly from notorious terror commander Zakaria Zubeidi, the reports detailed the fugitives’ first actions in the first hours after the escape.

After being rebuffed by local residents, the six spent less than an hour in a local mosque where they showered and changed clothes before heading out of the town. Israeli investigators had initially believed they spent the night there.

Police captured two of the fugitives in Nazareth on Friday night. Hours later, two others — including Zubeidi — were apprehended in the nearby town of Shibli–Umm al-Ghanam. In both cases, Arab Israelis who encountered the fugitives reported the suspicious sightings to authorities, aiding in their capture.

The reports highlighted the residents’ refusal to take Zubeidi and his accomplices to the West Bank, as yet another example of Arab citizens rejecting being complicit in the escape, and also of the intentions of the escapees to try and reach the West Bank.

After hearing that a significant number of security forces had been deployed along the border with the West Bank, the six fugitives decided to split up into three pairs, and go into hiding in northern Israel, the recaptured fugitives told the Shin Bet.

Israeli Border Police in the village of Nau’ra search for six Palestinian fugitives who escaped from a high security prison in northern Israel, on September 7, 2021. (Flash90)

The Kan public broadcaster reported that while the four who have been recaptured are largely cooperating in their interrogations, they have not been able to provide specific details on the location of the last two escapees.

However, security forces are said to believe they are narrowing in on the location of the last two — Iham Kamamji and Munadil Nafiyat — both of whom are members of the Islamic Jihad terror group, with searches focusing on the Jezreel Valley and Jenin in the West Bank.

Haaretz reported Sunday that Israel has surveillance footage, apparently of one of the suspects crossing through a gap in the security fence near the village of Jalameh in the northern West Bank.

Public Security Minister Omer Barlev alluded to this in an interview on Channel 12 news on Saturday:  “The estimation is that one has succeeded to get to the West Bank. The other one could be on either side of the Green Line,” he said.  “We will catch them,” he added.

“It’s only a matter of time before the defense establishment reaches the other two terrorists,” Israel Defense Forces Cheif of Staff Aviv Kohavi said on…