The lawyers of two of the Palestinian inmates who recently escaped from a high-security Israeli jail said Wednesday the prisoners had started digging the tunnel in December.

Six inmates staged a dramatic escape from Gilboa jail in northern Israel on Sept. 6 after digging a tunnel under a sink in their cell and making their way to freedom.

Israeli security forces launched a large-scale manhunt for the escapees in Israel and the occupied West Bank, and have since recaptured four of them.

"They started questioning him after his arrest because they believe he was the one who planned and implemented the operation," said the lawyer.

Qadri's lawyer gave a similar account of their escape. "Mr. Qadri told me that this process started on Dec. 14 and that this is what he told the Israeli investigators," Hanane Khatib said, without elaborating.

In an interview with Palestinian television, the lawyer said that her client "was very happy despite his arrest because he was able to wander around for five days" until his arrest.

The lawyer said the inmates had not planned to escape on Sept. 6, but they rushed ahead with it on that day because they feared guards had become suspicious and noticed changes in their cell.