All Hell Breaks Loose in Israel’s Prisons After Mass Jailbreak
JERUSALEM—Israel’s prisons are confronting a rebellion as inmates associated with the Palestinian Islamic Jihad rioted and set fire to cells following the spectacular escape, on Monday, of six fellow prisoners held in one of Israel’s most secured jails.
A dozen cells in two penitentiaries were set on fire, and prisoners threatened further harm to wardens after attacking one Gilboa prison jailer with boiling water, according to briefings by prison authorities. The prisoners were reportedly protesting a decision to have them moved from their wings, one of the measures taken by Israeli authorities in the aftermath of the staggering jailbreak of half a dozen men accused of crimes of terror, who bolted from the high-security Gilboa prison in Galilee with cartoonish ease.
Despite more than 90 checkpoints set up by the police, which impacted holiday traffic over the Jewish New Year, and support from 14 army infantry companies and special units, there has barely been sighting of the fugitives, Zakaria Zubeidi, Iham Kamamji, Monadal Infiat, Yakub Kadari and the brothers Mahmoud and Mohammed Aradeh.