The Israel Police Lahav 433 Major Crimes Unit on Tuesday questioned Gilboa Prison Warden Maj. Gen. Freddy Ben-Sheetrit as part of the investigation into the fiasco that led to the escape of six Palestinian terrorists from the maximum-security facility in northern Israel last week.
Follow Israel Hayom on Facebook and Twitter
The Sept. 6 incident is one of the gravest jailbreaks in the country's history. It exposed major flaws in the Israel Prison Service's running of the prison, including the fact that the jailbreak was missed by a prison guard manning the facility's CCTV center, as well as by a guard in a watchtower located yards away from the escape shaft.
The police tracked and arrested four of the six fugitives over the weekend. The manhunt for the remaining two fugitives, Iham Kamamji and Munadil Nafiyat, continues and includes police officers, Shin Bet agents, and Border Police forces.
According to the media reports, the police believe at least 10 other security prisoners knew about the six's escape plan.
While all leads are being pursued at this time, the investigation is also looking at why other signs that should have alerts prison personnel to the planned escaped, such as reports by maintenance crews that they were finding large quantities of sand in the prison's pipes and trash bins, were dismissed.
It is also unclear how the group's digging efforts escaped the eye of prison personnel who are supposed to perform weekly inspections of the cells and specifically look out for any changes in the walls or the floors.
An IPS official told Israel Hayom that if protocols had been observed on this matter, the opening to the escape shaft would have been discovered immediately.
Prime Minister Naftali Bennett has tasked a governmental commission on inquiry to review the incident, the results of which are expected to shake the IPS to its core.
Subscribe to Israel Hayom's daily newsletter and never miss our top stories!
