The architectural blueprint for Gilboa Prison that six Palestinian prisoners escaped from early Monday was published online and possibly helped the inmates flee.
The prison opened in 2004 and is considered highly secure, but the blueprint was published online by the architecture firm that took part in the prison’s construction, making it accessible to the public.
The plan, drawn by Poreh Yaacovi Karni Architects, shows the structure of Gilboa Prison, including Wing 2 from where the prisoners escaped.
Poreh Yaacovi Karni Architects’ website was taken offline on Monday, but a Google search can still find the prison’s architectural blueprint, as well as those of other prisons across Israel.
At this stage, it remains unclear whether the blueprint helped the prisoners escape, but a senior Israel Prison Service official said that publishing the blueprint online is a grave “security oversight. Publishing construction plans of a prison housing security prisoners is a failure of Israel Prison Service.”
How Israel’s security failings enabled an unthinkable Palestinian jailbreak
Six Palestinian prisoners escape Israeli prison, manhunt underway
Palestinian prison break could embolden terror groups in West Bank and Gaza
Poreh Yaacovi Karni Architects and Israel Prison Service have yet to comment on the matter.
The security failures that enabled the security prisoners to escape have been known to the Israel Prison Service and police for a long time – but were never corrected, according to senior Prison Service officials.
English
Arabic
Chinese (Simplified)
Dutch
French
German
Italian
Portuguese
Russian
Spanish