The murderers of off-duty IDF soldiers Achikam Amichai and David Rubin, who were killed while hiking near the Telem Stream in the Hevron region, escaped a Palestinian Authority prison, according to the PA.

The two men, one an employee of Fatah's PA security forces and the other a Fatah employee at a Hevron Sharia Court, turned themselves in to the PA shortly after the murders to escape Israeli security forces. The Olmert government agreed to allow the PA to try and jail the men.

Israeli security experts doubt the veracity of the escape story, which has been repeatedly used to cover the PA's release of terrorists in its custody. The PA says it is carrying out a manhunt for the men.