The Gilboa Redemption? Palestinian militants escape from high-security Israeli prison through tunnel

Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called the escape a grave incident, with Israeli police and the military starting a search after the six Palestinians broke out of Gilboa prison in northern Israel.

Five of the fugitives belong to the Islamic Jihad movement and one is a former commander of an armed group affiliated with the mainstream Fatah party, the Prisons Service said.

Arik Yaacov, the service's northern commander, said the escapees appeared to have opened a hole from their cell toilet floor to access passages formed by the prison's construction.

The facility, about 4 km (2 miles) from the boundary with the West Bank, is one of the highest-security jails in Israel and houses Palestinians convicted or suspected of anti-Israeli activities, including deadly attacks.

Four of the men were serving life sentences, a Palestinian prisoners organization said.

Zakaria Zubeidi, a former commander of Fatah's Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades, escaped from an Israeli prison on Monday morning. Photo: EPA

Bennett's office said he spoke with Israel's internal security minister and "emphasized that this is a grave incident that requires an across-the-board effort by the security forces" to find the escapees.

A police spokesman said security forces believed the fugitives might try to reach the West Bank, where the Palestinian Authority exercises limited self-rule, or the Jordanian border some 14 km (9 miles) to the east.

One of the escapees was identified by the Prisons Service as Zakaria Zubeidi, a former commander of Fatah's Al Aqsa Martyrs Brigades in the West Bank city of Jenin. The brigades carried out deadly attacks against Israelis during a 2000-2005 Palestinian uprising.