Jailbreak mastermind reveals new details about escape

Mahmoud Aradeh, considered the mastermind behind the Gilboa Prison jailbreak, said the operation took nine months of planning and digging.

By Tobias Siegal, World Israel News

Mahmoud Aradeh, considered the mastermind behind the Gilboa Prison jailbreak and the leader of the six terrorist fugitives, met with his attorney on Wednesday morning and revealed new details about one of Israel’s most infamous jailbreaks ever.

Aradeh, who told his attorney that he was the person behind the planning and the execution of the escape, insisted that they were not turned in by locals in Nazareth, but were rather apprehended there by chance, while searching for food.

Aradeh and Yacoob Qadri, both members of the Islamic Jihad, were identified by Israeli security forces in Nazareth last Friday, roughly a week after their escape, and did not resist arrest.

“I’m being tortured,” Aradeh told his lawyer. “I haven’t slept since my arrest.” The convicted terrorist also said that he “was searching for freedom so he could hug his mother.”

Regarding the escape itself, Aradeh said that the operation took nine months of planning and digging, before deciding to carry it out. He claimed that they had received no help whatsoever from prison personnel or other inmates.

In related news, Palestinian sources cited by Israeli media said on Wednesday that Palestinian security prisoners who were planning a hunger strike, scheduled to begin on Friday, have suspended it for the time being because their demands were met.