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Zakaria Muhammad 'Abdelrahman Zubeidi (Arabic: زكريا محمد عبد الرحمن الزبيدي; other spellings include Zakariyah Zbeidi, Zacharia and Zubaidi) (born 1976) is the former Jenin chief of the Al-Aqsa Martyrs' Brigades.
He is considered a "symbol of the Intifada",[1][2] and was on Israel's most-wanted list for several years. In an interview in 2005 he assumed responsibility for the 2002 Beit She'an attack that killed 6 people.[3][4] He pledged to put away his weapons as part of an Israeli amnesty in 2007,[5] though he never gave his guns up in the sense of relinquishing them to the authorities.[6] Zubeidi nevertheless agreed to give up violence, and after a three-month probation period, was removed from Israel's wanted list.[7] He subsequently devoted himself to 'cultural resistance' in the form of support for the Freedom Theatre at the Jenin Refugee Camp.[7]
On 28 December 2011, Israel rescinded Zubeidi's pardon,[8] and in May 2012 he was detained without charge by the Palestinian National Authority for six months. On 27 February 2019, Zubeidi was arrested again and in May charged before an Israeli military court with carrying out at least two shooting attacks on civilian buses in the West Bank.[9] On September 6, 2021, he escaped from the Gilboa Prison in Israel's North, together with five other Palestinian prisoners, through a tunnel that they had dug.[10][11] Five days later, on September 11, 2021, Zubeidi was caught near the Israeli village of Kfar Tavor.
- ^ Green, David (10 September 2021). "Zakaria Zubeidi Was an Intifada Symbol. This Week, He Became Israel's Most Wanted Fugitive". Haaretz. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
Issacharoffwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ Sarah Leibowitz, Omri Assenheim, King of Jenin. NRG Maariv (Hebrew) 11/2/2004.
- ^ "These Are the Palestinian Jailbreakers That Have Put Israel on Red Alert". Haaretz. Retrieved 2021-09-15.
- ^ Greenberg, Joel (16 July 2007). "Militants Accept Amnesty". Chicago Tribune. Retrieved 5 May 2011.
- ^ "Theater kid turned militant stars in Israeli prison break". apnews.com. 9 September 2021.
- ^ a b A Palestinian Intifada Icon Chooses Art over War, 22 February 2008, National Public Radio
- ^ Phelan, Jessica (30 December 2011). "Israel revokes pardon for Zakaria Zubeidi, former Palestinian fighter turned theater director". GlobalPost. Retrieved 14 September 2021.
- ^ Kubovich, Yaniv (May 20, 2019). "Israel Charges Former Palestinian Militant Leader With Carrying Out Terror Attacks". Haaretz.
- ^ "Zakaria Zubeidi, Israel's Most Wanted Fugitive, Hailed as Palestinians Celebrate Jail Break". Associated Press. First Post. September 11, 2021. Retrieved September 14, 2021.
- ^ Ahronheim, Anna (8 September 2021). "Manhunt continues for Palestinian prisoners who escaped jail". Jerusalem Post. Retrieved 14 September 2021.