OCCUPIED JERUSALEM: All six Palestinian militants who escaped an Israeli high-security jail through a tunnel dug under a sink are back in custody, after the army said Sunday it had recaptured the last two.
The inmates, who were being held for attacks against the Jewish state, became heroes among many Palestinians when reports emerged they had burrowed out using tools as basic as a spoon.
The full weight of Israel's security apparatus was deployed to catch them, including aerial drones, road checkpoints and an army mission to Jenin in the occupied West Bank where many of the men grew up.
The huge manhunt lasted almost a fortnight, with the first four fugitives recaptured last week.
The Israel Defence Forces said Sunday the remaining two had surrendered "after being surrounded by security forces" that had acted with precision on accurate intelligence.
The men, 35-year-old Ayham Kamamji and 26-year-old Munadel Infeiat, are both members of Islamic Jihad, an armed Palestinian Islamist movement.
Islamic Jihad hailed its "heroes" following the re-arrests, vowing the Palestinian people "will not surrender" in response to Israeli "criminality and aggression".
The pair were arrested in a joint army operation with counterterrorism forces in Jenin and were "currently being interrogated", the army statement said.
Two other men who had allegedly helped the fugitives were also detained, it added. In a call Sunday with Israeli security chiefs, Prime Minister Naftali Bennett called the escape "a major mishap".
"But you mobilised with joint forces until the mission was completed," he added, vowing in a separate statement that the security establishment would "correct what needs to be corrected".
All six fugitives were members of Palestinian militant groups who were convicted by Israeli courts of plotting or carrying out attacks against Israelis.
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