The Israeli police announced on Friday that they have arrested two Palestinian prisoners who escaped from Gilboa Prison in northern Israel the previous Monday. Channel 13 reported that Mahmoud al-Ardah and Yaqub Qadri, both members of the Islamic Jihad movement, have been captured and are alive, with the news confirmed by the "Haaretz" newspaper.
Israeli media reported that the escaped prisoners were apprehended in the Jabal al-Qafza area southeast of Nazareth. This follows a suggestion from the Israeli Broadcasting Authority earlier on Friday that the manhunt could take "a long time."
Israeli special forces stormed the Al-Aqsa Mosque compound on Friday and suppressed a solidarity march supporting Palestinian prisoners in Israeli jails, resulting in the death of a Palestinian doctor, which the authorities justified by alleging he attempted to carry out a "stabbing attack."
Earlier on Friday, the Israeli Broadcasting Authority stated that "security agencies believe the escapees have split into small groups, with some having entered Palestinian territories," adding that they appear to be receiving support from Arab Israeli citizens and Palestinian residents. The authority noted that "the police have increased their presence in the eastern neighborhoods of Jerusalem and the Old City, as well as around the Al-Aqsa Mosque."
