According to the Palestinian Prisoner Club, at dawn on Friday, the IOF arrested three siblings of one of the six Palestinians who escaped from Gilboa Prison Monday.

The club said in a statement, "The army arrested Raed, Muhammad and their sister Basima, the siblings of the fugitive detainee Mahmoud al-Ardah," who was serving a life sentence, including 26 years before his escape, at dawn last Monday.

In response to a question by AFP, the IOF, which has occupied the West Bank since 1967, refused to comment immediately on these recent arrests.

The IOF and intelligence services are investigating the families of the six fugitive detainees, and a number of them remain in detention.

Thursday, the Israeli Occupation announced the formation of an official investigation committee to examine the loopholes that enabled Palestinian detainees to escape from the heavily fortified Gilboa prison, at dawn Monday.

Most Palestinians view the fleeing detainees as heroes. The Palestinian forces, factions and activists called for demonstrations after Friday prayers in the West Bank and Gaza Strip, in solidarity with them and the rest of the Palestinian detainees in Israeli Occupation prisons.

On the other hand, statements by former Palestinian Minister for Palestinian Prisoners Affairs Ashraf Al-Ajrami to the Israeli Occupation media sparked a wave of criticism, after he said that the Palestinian Authority "will arrest the six fugitive detainees if they reach the Palestinian Authority areas, and they will be placed in Palestinian prisons."

A Fatah spokesman, Kayed Mayari, criticized Al-Ajrami's statements, describing them as "irresponsible and a stab in the back of the prisoners."

In a press statement, he said, "The Central Committee of the Fatah movement saluted the prisoners who took their freedom, and Al-Ajrami's statements do not reflect the national movement and the captive movement."

A member of the Central Committee of the Fatah movement and former intelligence chief Tawfiq Al-Tirawi paid a visit of support and solidarity with the families of the six fugitive detainees.