Gilboa Prison break
Gilboa Prison breakצילום: שב"ס

Police are currently investigating whether prison guards are involved in the escape of the six terrorists from Gilboa Prison. A gag order has been placed on the investigation.

Prime Minister Bennett held another security consultation by conference call regarding the escape of the terrorists from Gilboa Prison.

The consultation was attended by Defense Minister Benny Gantz (Blue and White), Public Security Minister Omer Bar Lev (Labor), Israel Security Agency (Shabak) Chief Nadav Argaman, Israel Prisons Service (IPS) Commissioner Kati Perry, and Israel Police Commissioner Kobi Shabtai. The manhunt includes significant contingents from the IDF, INP, ISP, and ISA, including numerous special forces units.

Police spokesman Lt. Gen. Eli Levy said 82 checkpoints had been deployed across the country in an attempt to capture the terrorists.

Preliminary investigation reveals that the inmates were able to escape due to an empty space left by a structural failure between the prison floor and the surrounding soil.

Police and ISA have received a report that surveillance cameras in Beit She'an apparently managed to document two of the fleeing terrorists.

The current assessment is that the terrorists have split up. Some are thought to have fled to the Palestinian Authority and some towards Jordan, where they may have already crossed the border. Police are asking the public to be vigilant and report any unusual incident or suspicious person.

"We will catch them. It may take a day, two days, three, a week, or two weeks, but they will be caught," Public Security Minister Omer Bar Lev said in a statement. "This prison seems to have been built on stilts. It was constructed quickly in the days of the Second Intifada, and there are significant gaps between the prison and the surrounding soil throughout the building."

Northern District Commander Arik Yaakov said the tunnel through which the prisoners escaped was likely one of these gaps, adding that, "This tunnel was not dug out of the dirt. There was a gap between the dirt and the piles under the prison, and the prisoners took advantage of it."

One of the escaped prisoners is Zakaria Zubeidi, who was the commander of Fatah's Al-Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in Jenin and is suspected of carrying out a series of terrorist actions.