Israel arrests relatives of escaped Palestinian prisoners
SMA NEWS – West Bank
Israeli security forces unable to find six escaped Palestinian prisoners have arrested six of their relatives instead.
The prisoners tunnelled their way out of the high-security Gilboa jail in northern Israel on Monday, having dug a hole in the floor of their cell with a spoon.
Israel has deployed drones, road checkpoints and an army mission to Jenin, the home town in the occupied West Bank of many of the escaped prisoners, but has failed to track them down.
Instead, on Wednesday security forces arrested two brothers of Mahmoud Ardah, who masterminded the escape, Dr Nidal Ardah, another relative, two brothers of escaped prisoner Mohammad Ardah, and prisoner Munadel Infeiat’s father.
The arrests provoked anger in the West Bank. “Holding someone in order to coerce a relative to do something is a mafia-style tactic,” said Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine director for Human Rights Watch.
