Hamas is believed to be holding two Israeli civilians and the remains of two Israeli soldiers who were killed during the 50-day Gaza war between the two sides in 2014. “The heroes of the ‘freedom tunnel’ will come out with heads held high and the Qassam command has decided that there will be no exchange deal without freeing those heroes,” said the spokesman, Abu Obaida, using the name of Hamas’ military wing. In Gaza, Hamas’ armed wing pledged to include the six prisoners on the top of any future prisoner swap deal between the militant group and Israel. “We have to maintain heightened readiness and continue until the mission is complete,” Bennett said. In a statement issued late Saturday, Israel’s Prime Minister, Naftali Bennett, praised the Israeli security forces for the arrest of the four fugitives, describing the search operation as “determined and persistent.” Kadari was serving two life sentences for attempted murder and bomb planting.Īccording to Israeli media reports, local residents in both towns had turned in the prisoners. The man, wearing jeans and a green T-shirt, calmly identifies himself as Kadari and answers “yes” when asked whether he is one of the escapees. The search for the final two prisoners was continuing.Įarlier, two other prisoners were arrested in Nazareth, an Arab city in northern Israel just west of Umm al-Ghanam.Ī video circulating on social media showed Israeli police shackling one of the prisoners, Yakub Kadari, into the backseat of a police vehicle and asking him for his name.
#UNDERWAY PALESTINIANS ESCAPE PRISON FULL#
“All of the forces were deployed at full strength, searched in open areas, collected every piece of information until they succeeded in solving the puzzle to locate these two fugitives,” including Zubeidi, police said. In a statement, police said that Israeli security forces, including the military, have been working “around the clock” to catch the fugitives.
Photos released by police showed Zubeidi, handcuffed and wearing a white head band, being led away by two police officers. Zubeidi over the years had received amnesty and taken college courses and was active in a West Bank theater movement before he was re-arrested in 2019 on suspicions of involvement in attacks.
While he has been linked to attacks on Israelis, he also was well known for giving frequent media interviews and for a friendship he once had with an Israeli woman. Zubeidi was a militant leader during the second Palestinian uprising in the early 2000s. The source said the two escapees appeared to have received no help following their escape and had no planned route on where to go. The Israeli Haaretz news site, quoting an unidentified defense official, said Zubeidi and fellow fugitive Mohammed Aradeh had been hiding outdoors for some time. Early on Saturday, police said they had caught two men, including Zakaria Zubeidi, hiding in a truck parking lot in the Arab town of Umm al-Ghanam.
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