The Palestinian situation was dire in many ways. The new Israeli coalition government made it clear it was not going to have any diplomatic talks with the Palestinians. In fact, the high-level meeting that the Israeli government agreed to between Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz and Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas in Ramallah was in fact held in the nearby Civil Administration military compound, a few miles from Abbas’ home and from headquarters of the Palestinian presidency, known as the Muqata.

The short 11-day duel between Israel and Hamas had produced no concrete results, as Israel has insisted on regaining its prisoners and the bodies of soldiers held by Hamas. With little development bridging the gap between both sides, the situation for the blockaded Gazans looked dire, too. Palestinians were also angry with their own leadership, whom they blame for not engaging with the people and for canceling national elections that were long overdue anyway. Even the little freedom of expression and assembly that Palestinians had often boasted about was being curtailed as the security-minded Abbas leadership was not having any of the public protests against their actions, one of which had caused the death of a Palestinian critic while in the hands of their own security officers.

In a totally unexpected and what appears to have been innovative act, six Palestinians who were expected to spend most of their lives in prison found a way to break out of the maximum security Gilboa prison in the north of Israel and inside the Green line — a violation of international law that requires occupiers to keep prisoners in jails in the occupied territories. The escaped prisoners — five members of Islamic Jihad and one leader of the Fatah Al-Aqsa Martyrs brigades — are all from the northern Palestinian town of Jenin.

It is unclear how they escaped, whether they actually dug the entire tunnel that led to a street outside the prison, or if they used water and utility ducts to sneak out. The breakout occurred after midnight and apparently a guard who was supposed to watch them was asleep. Israeli media said they must have walked about 3 kilometers (2 miles) to the Arab village of Naura where they bought supplies and found a family that allowed them to shower. Zakaria Zubeidi, one of the escapees who was a Fatah leader, smiled while relaxing in front of a security camera shortly after the escape with a towel around him, in an apparent act of defiance knowing that the Israelis would collect images from all cameras.