Israel has conducted air attacks in the Gaza strip early on Tuesday, as fighter jets targeted a manufacturing workshop as well as a compound in Khan Yunis, a city in southern Gaza, according to an Israeli military statement.
The air attacks have taken place amid the escape of six Palestinian prisoners who had tunneled out of one of the most secure Israeli prisons overnight, on Monday. The prison break was recorded as the biggest of its kind in decades. Israel has since launched a massive manhunt in the country’s north and the occupied West Bank. The search continued on Tuesday.
Palestinians consider prisoners held by Israel to be heroes of their national cause, and many celebrated the escape on social media. Efforts to capture the escapees will likely draw attention to the Palestinian Authority’s security coordination with Israel, which is deeply unpopular among Palestinians. There was no instant comment from Palestine, but President Mahmoud Abbas’ Fatah party praised the escape.
A photo released by the prison service showed a narrow hole in the floor of a cell, and Israeli security forces could be seen examining a similar hole on a stretch of gravel just outside the walls of the prison.
