Despite suspicions in Israel that some of the fugitives who escaped from the Gilboa prison have crossed the border into Jordan, officials from the kingdom assured Thursday that that was not the case.
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A senior defense official told Israel Hayom that had the prisoners made their way into Jordanian territory, authorities would have acted as required by law and arrested the individuals wanted by Israel. He also said that despite Jordan not having an official extradition treaty with Israel, the kingdom would nevertheless have considered extraditing the fugitives had they crossed the border into their sovereign territory.
"There is no indication at the moment that any of the prisoners who escaped crossed the border and are located on the kingdom's sovereign territory," the source said and added that Israel had requested Jordanian authorities for help in locating the fugitives if any of them had indeed managed to make it to the kingdom.
"Although these are Palestinians who are our brethren in every way, Jordan will not be a city of refuge for inmates who escaped prison, no matter who the people in question are or under what circumstance they broke out of jail," the source assured.
"Jordanian law is very clear on the matter, and if someone is found on Jordanian territory, he will be brought before a court that will rule on his case. If the court decides to extradite them to Israel or a third country, that is what we will do,' he said.
The Jordanian official stressed that due to a revival in relations between Amman and Jerusalem since the new government took power in Israel, local authorities are working even harder to find out whether any of the six prisoners are indeed hiding in the kingdom.
Another high-ranking intelligence official also confirmed that based on investigations conducted by Jordanian authorities, the fugitives did not seem to have made their way into Jordan.
"If all six prisoners, or several of them, were to cross the border into Jordan and stay on Jordanian territory, we would have found out about it, one way or another. Based on investigations conducted until now, we received no information that could have confirmed suspicions that all six prisoners or some of them fled to the sovereign territory of the Kingdom of Jordan," the intelligence official said.
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