Two Palestinians are now facing a criminal case in court for providing refuge to two of the six prisoners who escaped Gilboa Prison on Sept. 6.
Ihab Salameh and Abd al-Rahman Abu Ja’far were indicted for helping the fugitives hide before they were re-arrested by the authorities.
The indictment against the two was filed at the Samaria military court on Sunday.
Earlier, criminal cases were formally filed against the six prisoners.
Aside from the prisoners, the Northern District Attorney’s Office also filed an indictment at the Nazareth Magistrate’s Court on Sunday against five additional inmates who aided the escapees.
Sources said the indictment focus solely on the actions of illegal fleeing confinement by the prisoners.
Of the six escapees, the most prominent was Zakaria Zubeidi, a Fatah commander who was responsible for multiple terrorist attacks and for killing many Israelis.
Munadil Nafayat, Iham Kahamji, Yaquob Qadiri, and brothers Mahmoud and Mohammed al-Arida were the other escapees – all of them are members of Palestinian Islamic Jihad and from towns near Jenin.
Arik Yaacov, the service’s northern commander, hinted the escapees appeared to have opened a hole from their cell toilet floor to access passages formed by the prison’s construction.
Yaacov said the facility, about 4 km (2 miles) from the boundary with the occupied West Bank, is one of the highest-security jails in Israel and houses Palestinians convicted or suspected of anti-Israeli activities, including deadly attacks.
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