Operation Freedom Tunnel probe sows discord in Israeli prison admin
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Israeli media says the probe into Operation Freedom Tunnel could lead to the suspension of a senior official in the prison administration.
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Police officers and prison guards inspect the scene of Operation Freedom Tunnel by six Palestinian prisoners, outside the Gilboa prison in Northern occupied Palestine, September 6, 2021 (AP)
The Israeli team investigating Operation Freedom Tunnel handed over Wednesday its report to Israeli Police Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir, pending executive action from the extremist official.
Operation Freedom Tunnel, which saw six Palestinian prisoners reclaiming their freedom from the Israeli occupation's prisons, was the culmination of "errors and flaws when it comes to the basic areas of the prison service and its dealings with security prisoners, including the areas of operations and intelligence, as well as the transfer and treatment of prisoners," the report found.
These blunders, according to the report, "made escaping possible, and most of them are not exclusive to Gilboa Prison."
Moreover, the report called for the implementation of numerous strict measures, saying their implementation was aimed at "preventing future prison breaks."
The investigative committee said it would have been adequate for Gilboa Prison commander Freddy Ben Shitrit to have been dismissed as the prison chief. It also called for the commander of the Northern Command of Israeli prisons to be suspended by September, saying he should not occupy any key position in the Israeli prison administration.
Finally, the report stressed that Israeli Prisons Service deputy chief commissioner Moni Bitan should not have any measures taken against him.
Israeli media reported that the Committee charged with investigating Operation Freedom Tunnel reached serious conclusions that left the Police Minister with no choice but to dismiss the head of the occupation's Prison Service, Katy Perry.
Israeli KAN public broadcaster political commentator Moti Gilat said sources in the Police Ministry believe that the Minister will have no choice but to dismiss Perry within two weeks of the committee issuing its report on the incident.
"One of the members of the committee, retired Judge Menachem Finkelstein, met with Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir at his request and informed him verbally of the seriousness of the results of the report that will be published and made him understand that he would have no choice but to dismiss them and send them home."
On September 6, 2021, six Palestinian prisoners broke out of Gilboa Prison in a heroic operation that shook the Israeli occupation's trust in its security system to the core.
The Israeli occupation court in Al-Nasirah issued a sentence of 5 years and 8 months of imprisonment and a fine against 5 of the Freedom Tunnel prisoners, in addition to four years of imprisonment against the other prisoners who provided assistance to the Freedom Tunnel prisoners.
The Freedom Tunnel prisoners are Mahmoud Al-Aridah, Zakaria Al-Zubaidi, Yaqoub Qadri, Mohammad Al-Aridah, Ayham Kamamji, and Munadel Nafi'at.
The Muhjat Al-Quds Foundation said in January that the Israeli Prison Service has detained 4 prisoners who partook in the heroic act of aiding the prisoners of the Freedom Tunnel and took them to different prison facilities.
The detained prisoners are Kosai Rabih Mohamad Merhi and Ali Mohamad Nazmi Abu Bakir who were taken from isolation in "Megiddo prison" to "Ayalon prison"; Iyad Ibrahim Hasan Jradat who was transferred from "Megiddo Prison" to "Rimonim Prison"; and Mohamad Mahmoud Nazmi Abu Bakir who was transferred from Megiddo prison to isolation in Ramon prison.
