After capture of four escaped terrorists, manhunt on for the other two continues
Israel’s combined security services continued their manhunt for two Islamic Jihad terrorists who escaped from the Gilboa Prison almost a week ago after four of the six escapees were captured over the weekend.
Security forces near the Gilboa Prison in northern Israel as the search for the six Palestinian terrorists who escaped from the high-security prison continues. Bet She’an, Sep 9, 2021. Photo by TPS
The searches for Ayham Kamamji and Munadal Infi’at, Islamic Jihad terrorists, are focused in the north of the country in the area in which the other four escapees were captured.
The estimate is the one of them may have managed to escape to the city of Jenin, in the Palestinian Authority (PA).
The police also fear that the two, who are in a desperate situation, may commit a terror attack.
In the meantime, the Magistrate’s Court in Nazareth on Saturday night extended by nine days the detention of the four terrorists who were captured – Zakariya Zubeidi, Yaqub Qaderi, Muhammad Qassem Ardah and Mahmoud Abdullah Ardah.
The first two terrorists to be captured were Qaderi and Mahmoud Abdullah Ardah, Islamic Jihad terrorists. The two were apprehended on Friday evening by patrol officers in the area of Nazareth. According to police, the two approached citizens in the area and asked them for food and help, and the Arab-Israelis called the police. Large forces were rushed to the area and located and arrested the two.
About 10 hours later, two more fugitives, Zubeidi and Muhammad Qassem Ardah, were captured in the Israeli-Arab town of Umm al-Ghanem. The two were arrested while hiding in a truck parking lot. The two were located after a local citizen reported seeing them in the area.
They were said to be exhausted and hungry after not eating for a prolonged period of time.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett stated after the four were captured that “the quick sharing of information and the precise division of tasks between the security services, which facilitated maximum coverage of the ground, must continue.”
He expressed his appreciation for the civilians who informed the police of the location of the terrorists and called on the public to “show awareness and responsibility.”
Kamamji, 35, who is still at large, murdered Eliyahu Ashri in 2006 and planned to blow up a bus filled with passengers using an exploding car carrying a massive explosive approximately 100 kilograms in weight.
Zubeidi, a senior Fatah terrorist, commanded the Al-Aqsa Martyrs’ Brigades in Jenin. He was indicted for a long list of terror activities.
Mahmoud Ardah was arrested in 1996 and sentenced to life and another 15 years. He is considered to be the commander of the escape operation.
Muhammad Ardah, an Islamic Jihad, planned a suicide bombing on November 2001, in which three Israelis were murdered and many others were wounded.
Qaderi, committed a shooting attack in 2002 in which Yosef Ajami was murdered and a foreign worker was wounded.
