It was at 03:00 on Monday that six Palestinian prisoners, including Zakaria al-Zubeidi, former head of al-Aqsa's martyrs' brigades in Jenin, escaped from the Gilboa High Security Prison in northern Israel.

The prisoners, five of whom served life sentences for links to extremist acts under the name of the Islamist jihad movement, had managed to reach freedom on the other side of the wall with the help of a dug tunnel in the prison cell.

Since then, there has been an intense hunt for the fugitives, who were still at large on Friday.

During the week, the incident triggered a series of riots in the country's prisons.

Among other things, prisoners, the majority of whom are said to belong to the Palestinian Islamic jihad movement, have set fire to cells.

In response to the riots, on Thursday all visits to Palestinian prisoners were canceled until the end of the month.

In addition to further restrictions on the inmates, the riots have now also resulted in hundreds of prisoners being moved to other prisons in the country.

"We will catch the fleeing terrorists"

It is still unclear how the fugitives, who are said to belong to the militant Islamic jihad movement, managed to dig the tunnel.

An extensive national investigation is underway where, among other things, it is looked at whether they have received help from inside and outside.

Work on the tunnel is estimated to have taken several months, and so far 19 prison guards have been questioned about their possible involvement.

- We will get hold of the fleeing terrorists and we will remedy the shortcomings that may have led to the escape.

If we discover that there has also been negligence, we will take care of it as well, says Minister of Security Omer Bar-Lev, according to the Jerusalem Post.

Security forces are mobilized

The escape, which has been described as the most spectacular ever in the country, has also resulted in unrest and protests among Palestinians during the week.

Among other things, on Thursday, about 500 people gathered on the streets of Ramallah to openly show their support for the fugitives.

On Friday, the Israeli Ministry of Defense decided to prepare for an escalation of violence in both the West Bank and Gaza, reports the Jerusalem Post. The military presence has also been strengthened in the Jenin areas and the border with Jordan, where the prisoners are believed to have moved.