Israel arrests relatives of escaped Palestinian prisoners

JENIN CITY, Palestine

Israeli forces detained relatives of six Palestinian prisoners, who escaped from a high-security prison in northern Israel, according to a Palestinian NGO on Wednesday.

Military forces rounded up four relatives of the escaped prisoners in the towns of Arraba and Ya’bad in the northern West Bank, the Palestinian Prisoner Society said in a statement.

Israeli forces also launched house-to-house searches in the towns of Arraba, Ya'bad, Bir al-Basha and Deir Abu Da'if in the West Bank, according to local residents.

On Monday, six Palestinian prisoners tunneled out of the high-security Gilboa prison in northern Israel.

While it was hailed by Palestinian factions as a “big victory,” the prison break was viewed in Israel as unacceptable security and intelligence failure.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar