Israel has asked Egyptian authorities in Sinai to extradite a Palestinian prisoner who escaped from the Ketziot detention camp in the Negev and is believed to be in Egyptian custody.
The prisoner, one of five residents of the Gaza Strip who escaped from the detention camp Saturday night, turned himself in to an international observer force at the Rafah checkpoint on the border between the Gaza Strip and Sinai.
Israel also wants Egypt to try and find two of the other fugitives, whose tracks led to Sinai. The remaining two were recaptured soon after the escape.
There was no immediate indication how the Egyptians would respond.
The army is investigating how the prisoners managed to escape. Sources say it is likely that the officer in charge of their ward will be dismissed. Initial investigation showed serious errors in the guarding of the prisoners.
The Ketziot detention camp comprises about 6,100 inmates in two sections, some 5,500 in the large section, housing intifada activists and terrorists, and a separate section of 600 more dangerous inmates, who live in tents. This is where the escape took place.
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