The Israeli army on Friday in the occupied West Bank made new arrests of relatives of six Palestinians who are still at large after their escape from an Israeli prison, said an organization for the defense of the detainees.

Israeli forces have deployed reinforcements in the West Bank and have been carrying out a vast manhunt since the escape on Monday of these Palestinians, members of armed groups, via a tunnel dug in the high security prison of Gilboa (north).

Two brothers and a sister of Mahmoud Ardah - imprisoned since 1996, sentenced to life imprisonment and presented by local media as the mastermind of the escape - were arrested Friday morning by the army in the village of Arraba near Jenin, in the northern West Bank, the Palestinian Prisoners Club said.

Other relatives of the fugitives, all from the Jenin area, were arrested on Wednesday and are being held in detention, according to the Palestinian association.

The six heroic Palestinians

The Israeli army, which has occupied the West Bank since 1967, declined to comment on these latest arrests immediately. The Israeli justice system has issued a ban on the details of the investigation into the escape, as the local press tries to lift the veil on this embarrassing and sensitive matter for the Jewish state. A government commission of inquiry should be set up to examine the circumstances. The Israeli authorities say they fear in particular that the six fugitives carry out attacks.

The six Palestinians have become "heroes" in the Palestinian Territories, where demonstrations of support are scheduled to take place again on Friday.

In recent days, similar gatherings have been peppered with clashes with Israeli security forces.

Former Palestinian Minister of Prisoners Ashraf al-Ajrami has drawn anger on social media after claiming the Palestinian Authority could help arrest escapees if they were in areas of the West Bank under his control.

Kayed Miari, a spokesman for President Mahmoud Abbas' Fatah party, said it was "a stab in the back" to the cause of Palestinians detained by Israel.

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