Israel strikes Gaza, some Palestinians recaptured

JERUSALEM: Israel carried out air strikes in the Gaza Strip on Sunday in response to rocket fire into its territory, the Israeli military said.

Tension between Israel and the Palestinians has risen over the past week, ater six Palestinians escaped from a maximum security Israeli jail on Monday. Israeli forces have since captured four of the inmates.

Drawing Israeli air strikes, Gaza group fired a rocket into Israel on Friday when two of the prisoners were apprehended and then again on Saturday, ater two more escaped inmates were caught. The Israeli military said it struck targets belonging to Hamas, the group that rules Gaza. There were no reports of casualties.

A fragile truce between Israel and Hamas ended 11 days of fierce fighting in May in which at least 250 Palestinians and 13 in Israel were killed.

Israeli police on Saturday said that Israel has recaptured four of the six Palestinians who escaped from a high-security prison earlier this week in one of the most daring breakouts in the country’s history.

Since Monday’s jail break from Gilboa prison in northern Israel, the army has poured troops into the occupied West Bank for a massive manhunt.

The latest two fugitives to be recaptured, who include a prominent former leader, were found hiding in a lorry park just outside Nazareth in northern Israel, police said.

Zakaria Zubeidi, 46, headed the armed wing of the Fatah movement of Palestinian president Mahmoud Abbas in the West Bank town of Jenin.

Mohammad Ardah, 39, was sentenced to life in prison in 2002 for his role in Islamic Jihad’s armed wing.

Police said they were “hiding in a parking lot for trucks.”

“The hunt for the other two fugitives continues.” On Friday evening, police recaptured Islamic Jihad members Yaqub Qadri, 48, and Mahmud Abdullah Ardah, 45. The later was the alleged mastermind of the escape.

“Police located (the two fugitives) and chased them in a helicopter,” the police statement said.

“They offered no resistance when they were arrested in the south of Nazareth.”