The six Palestinian prisoners, who managed to escape from Gilboa prison last month and exposed a new Israeli failure, were charged with escaping by the Israeli Magistrate's Court; no security-related charges were filed against them, as reported by Israeli media.

The penalty for fleeing prison, where prisoners are constantly subjected to abuse, mistreatment, and deprivation of their basic human rights, is an additional seven years.

Furthermore, five other Palestinians had charges pressed against them for helping the detainees in the escape, which also carries a sentence of seven years.

The news comes after the President of the Israeli Magistrate's Court Doron Porat allegedly provided “reassurance that the prisoners are unharmed” in response to complaints by the prisoners' lawyers about subjecting them to medical neglect and torture.

What do you need to know?

The Israeli occupation has announced that six Palestinian prisoners broke out of Gilboa Prison, which is under heavy security, exposing a huge Israeli failure.

The Big Escape

The prisoners who managed to escape through a tunnel are Zakaria al-Zubaidi, Munadel Yaqoub Nafi'at, Mohammad Qassem al-Arida, Yaqoub Mahmoud Qadri, Ayham Fouad Kamamji, Mahmoud Abdullah al-Arida, knowing that the last five are members of the Islamic Jihad Movement.

Israeli media reported that convicts remained near an exit hatch for an extended time period without getting caught.

Israeli media has revealed that the guard on duty was asleep while the prisoners escaped, divulging that there are talks of orders not to spread information about the escape.

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In a related development, Israel Ziv, a retired Israeli Major General, told Channel 12 that the escape operation has been arranged for a while, detailing that one cannot awake one morning, remove a slab of stone, discover a hole, and just leap out, indicating that evidence suggests meticulous planning.

Ziv confirmed that the absence of traces from the escaped prisoners indicates that they were awaited by someone from the outside, alluding to their final destination as possibly being Damascus, seeing as the office of the Islamic Jihad is located there.

In turn, Carmela Menashe, the military commentator for the Kan channel disclosed that the escape is a massive and terrible failure on the part of the Prison Directorate. 

Israeli media reported the transfer of nearly 400 prisoners from Gilboa prison to other penitentiaries on Monday, fearing additional tunnels, noting that hundreds of special police units were dispatched to the prison to investigate the escape. 

According to Israeli media, the area surrounding the jail was heavily searched in an effort to locate the detainees. The Israeli occupation closed numerous checkpoints and tightened its grip on other military checkpoints in the West Bank.

It was also reported by a senior security official that the escape of prisoners from Gilboa reflects a "series of dangerous failures."

Rearresting the six Palestinian Heros

On September 19, the Israeli occupation forces announced the re-arrest of the last two prisoners who broke out of the Gilboa occupation prison, Ayham Kamamji and Munadel Nafi'at.

On September 10, the Israeli occupation forces arrested the first two prisoners from Gilboa prison, Yaqoub Qadri and Mahmoud al-Arida. Then, on September 11, it arrested two others, Zakaria al-Zubaidi, and Mohammad al-Arida. 

Who is the mastermind?

Mahmoud Al-Arida was born on November 8, 1975, in Arraba, Jenin, north of the occupied West Bank, and spent 25 consecutive years in prison. 

Al-Arida's mother told Al Mayadeen that he was first arrested in 1992, in his first year of high school, and was sentenced by the occupation to 4 years in prison, despite his young age. He spent 41 in incarceration before he was released after the Oslo I Accord, in 1994.

Occupation forces once again arrested al-Arida on September 21, 1996, accusing him of being part of the Islamic Jihad's military wing and partaking in resistance operations that killed Israeli soldiers.

Al-Arida was subjected to much oppression during his long sentence, placed in solitary confinement on June 19, 2011, and after 4 months, an internal court renewed his confinement for another 60 days, without stating the reason behind the decision.

Who is Zakaria Al-Zubaidi?

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. 

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 martyred later 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