Israeli media: Gilboa prison break is the largest in years

Israeli media confirmed that there is no indication so far that the six Palestinian prisoners, who snatched their freedom out of the Israeli Gilboa Prison, have returned to the city of Jenin, according to Channel 13 military affairs commentator Alon Ben David.

In the meantime, occupation media quoted former officers that the prisoners' escape is the largest in recent years and that it amounts to the kidnapping of a soldier, as the Palestinians succeeded in surprising and embarrassing "Israel".

"The security failures that allowed six security prisoners to escape late Sunday night from Gilboa Prison have been known to the Israel Prison Service and police for a long time" Haaretz newspaper, quoting senior Prison Service officials, said, adding that those failures “were never corrected.”

Blame exchanged

Prison Service officials also said that the blame for these failures falls on the commanders of the Gilboa Prison in the north, and the Prison Service’s intelligence division, who operate the institution. Security oversight has plagued the prison long before the planning for the actual escape began.

For his part, Israeli Prime Minister Naftali Bennett spoke with Minister of Public Security Omer Bar-Lev who is receiving fresh reports on the search operation. "The incident is a serious one" and it requires methodical general effort by all security forces, Bennett said.

The Israeli occupation had announced on Monday morning that 6 Palestinian prisoners liberated themselves from the maximum-security Gilboa Prison, through a tunnel they dug under it.