IOF Captures Two Additional Gilboa Escapees

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The Israeli occupation forces (IOF) captured an additional two of the six detainees who broke out of Gilboa Prison: Zakaria al-Zubeidi and Mohammed al-Arida.

On Friday, the Israeli army radio channel announced that the IOF had captured two of the six detainees who broke out of Gilboa Prison: Mahmoud Al Arida and Yaqoub Qadri in occupied Nazareth. 

Israeli media had said that the arrest was not the result of intelligence nor fieldwork, rather the "vigilance of the settlers" who noticed them and called the occupation police.

Earlier, Al Mayadeen correspondent reported that the Israeli occupation forces were searching uninhabited buildings and checking the security cameras of mosques in Sandala, a village in the Palestinian territories occupied in 1948, as part of their search for the six Palestinian detainees who broke out of Gilboa Prison.

The Israeli occupation forces also raided homes in Arraba and Bir al-Basha and arrested five family members of the liberated Palestinians in an attempt to capture them.

Furthermore, Israeli "Channel 12's" political affairs commentator quoted sources close to the Israeli government claiming a large-scale military operation was being prepared for Gaza and that the Gilboa escape incident obstructed the operation. 

Gilboa's former commander had previously described the liberation as "the most dangerous incident that could happen. It is shameful. Gilboa prison is a stronghold," he said, according to Israeli media.

In the past few days, Israeli media declared that neither the Shin Bet, the occupation police, nor anybody had any tangible intelligence regarding detainees. The breakout was labeled a reflection of a series of grave failures.

Al-Aqsa Brigades commander, the captive Fatah leader Zakaria al-Zubaidi, appears again after he successfully escaped from maximum-security Gilboa prison with five other prisoners. This break is the first of its kind in the history of the Israeli occupation.

Before his arrest in 2019, al-Zubaidi was among the most powerful figures in Jenin and was a prominent advocate for the continuation of the uprising. He is considered one of the most notable leaders of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs of the Fatah movement. He is a former member of the movement's revolutionary council, elected on December 4, 2016. 

Who is Zakaria Al-Zubaidi?

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Al-Zubaidi returned to armed resistance in late 2001, after the martyrdom of a friend. Some months later his mother was martyred just before the invasion of Jenin on March 3, 2002. The occupation forces targeted her while she was standing at the window of a house. His brother Taha was subsequently martyred as well, and their house was demolished 3 times.

The occupation forces accused al-Zubaidi of being responsible for several operations, including a bombing attack in "Tel Aviv" that killed an Israeli settler and injured 30 others in June 2004.

Al-Zubaidi survived four assassination attempts by the Israeli occupation forces and sustained multiple injuries in the process.