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Lawyers: Israel Prison Escapees Began Digging Tunnel in December

Police officers and prison guards inspect the scene of a prison escape outside the Gilboa prison in northern Israel, Monday, Sept. 6, 2021. (AP Photo)
Police officers and prison guards inspect the scene of a prison escape outside the Gilboa prison in northern Israel, Monday, Sept. 6, 2021. (AP Photo)
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Lawyers: Israel Prison Escapees Began Digging Tunnel in December

Police officers and prison guards inspect the scene of a prison escape outside the Gilboa prison in northern Israel, Monday, Sept. 6, 2021. (AP Photo)
Police officers and prison guards inspect the scene of a prison escape outside the Gilboa prison in northern Israel, Monday, Sept. 6, 2021. (AP Photo)

Palestinian prisoners who broke out of a high-security Israeli jail this month began digging their escape tunnel in December, lawyers for two of the arrested escapees said on Wednesday.

Six inmates staged a dramatic escape from Gilboa jail in northern Israel on September 6 after digging a tunnel under a sink in their cell and making their way to freedom.

Israeli security forces launched a large-scale manhunt for the escapees in Israel and the occupied West Bank, and have since recaptured four of them.

Lawyers for two of those arrested, Mahmud Abdullah Ardah and Yaqub Qadri, on Wednesday revealed details of their escape.

"Mahmud told me he started digging (the tunnel) in December," his lawyer Roslan Mahajana told AFP after visiting him in detention.

Ardah claimed to be the architect of the escape, saying he used spoons, plates and even the handle of a kettle to dig the tunnel from his jail cell.

"They started questioning him after his arrest because they believe he was the one who planned and implemented the operation," said the lawyer.

Qadri's lawyer gave a similar account of their escape.

"Mr Qadri told me that this process started on December 14 and that this is what he told the Israeli investigators," Hanane Khatib said, without elaborating.

In an interview with Palestinian television, the lawyer said that her client "was very happy despite his arrest because he was able to wander around for five days" until his arrest.

The lawyer said the inmates had not planned to escape on September 6, but they rushed ahead with it on that day because they feared guards had become suspicious and noticed changes in their cell.

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EU’s Kallas Says She Hopes for Political Agreement on Easing Syria Sanctions

In this photograph taken on January 12, 2025, a vendor waits for customers at her mobile shop in the Damascus Tower market, which specializes in the smart phone business, in the Syrian capital. (AFP)
In this photograph taken on January 12, 2025, a vendor waits for customers at her mobile shop in the Damascus Tower market, which specializes in the smart phone business, in the Syrian capital. (AFP)
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EU’s Kallas Says She Hopes for Political Agreement on Easing Syria Sanctions

In this photograph taken on January 12, 2025, a vendor waits for customers at her mobile shop in the Damascus Tower market, which specializes in the smart phone business, in the Syrian capital. (AFP)
In this photograph taken on January 12, 2025, a vendor waits for customers at her mobile shop in the Damascus Tower market, which specializes in the smart phone business, in the Syrian capital. (AFP)

European Union foreign policy chief Kaja Kallas said on Wednesday she hopes a political agreement on easing Syria sanctions can be reached at a gathering of European ministers next week.

EU foreign ministers will discuss the situation in Syria during a meeting in Brussels on Jan. 27.

European officials began rethinking their approach towards Syria after Bashar al-Assad was ousted as president by opposition forces led by the Hayat Tahrir al-Sham (HTS) group, which the United Nations designates as a terrorist group.

Some European capitals want to move quickly to suspend economic sanctions in a signal of support for the transition in Damascus. Others have sought to ensure that even if some sanctions are eased, Brussels retains leverage in its relationship with the new Syrian authorities.

“We are ready to do step-for-step approach and also to discuss what is the fallback position,” Kallas told Reuters in an interview.

“If we see that the developments are going in the wrong direction, then we are also willing to put them back,” she added.

Six EU member states called this month for the bloc to temporarily suspend sanctions on Syria in areas such as transport, energy and banking.

Current EU sanctions include a ban on Syrian oil imports and a freeze on any Syrian central bank assets in Europe.