Prison break: Israel backtracks on dispersing Islamic Jihad inmates after threats of riots

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The Israel Prison Service have decided against dispersing Islamic Jihad inmates from Ofer Prison in the West Bank after prisoners had threatened mass disturbances, including arson and harm to guards if they are transferred to other prisons, according to prison authority sources.

Over 48 hours have passed since six Palestinian prisoners convicted of carrying attacks against Israelis escaped from Gilboa Prison in northern Israel on Monday, and despite expansive search efforts by the Israel Police and Shin Bet security service, no progress has been made. The Israeli military arrested Tuesday overnight four of the fugitives’ relatives in the village of Arabba near Jenin in the West Bank, according to Palestinian reports.

Israeli forces have entered Jenin – where the escapees hail from – as part of their extensive search effort and in order to carry out arrests. The Palestinian Health Ministry said that one person was shot in the head and taken to a Jenin hospital in moderate and stable condition after clashes erupted between the soldiers and locals in Arabba.

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The Shin Bet security service have questioned some prisoners considered senior figures in Islamic Jihad in a bid to find out whether they were aware of the escapees’ plan to flee from Gilboa.

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Palestinian prison break could embolden terror groups in West Bank and Gaza

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A short time after the six had made their escape, Prison Service Commissioner Katy Perry decided that about 400 prisoners pertaining to Islamic Jihad from all Israeli prisons would be separated and placed in different maximum security facilities. The purpose of the move was to house only one Islamic Jihad prisoner in any given prison cell.

The prison authority began transferring inmates from prisons in the north of the country, and prisoners from Gilboa and Megiddo Prison were moved to other jails, mainly in the south.

But about 150 Islamic Jihad prisoners from Ofer refused to vacate the prison and some clashed with the guards. Currently, three Islamic Jihad prisoners are housed in one cell in Ofer on average.

According to Israel Prison Service sources, Central District Commander Avichai Ben-Hamo later decided against moving the prisoners, and they currently remain at Ofer. “They are just scared of them,” one senior Israel Prison Service official said.

Meanwhile, prisoners belonging to the Hamas militant organization attacked a guard in Gilboa with boiling water the night between Tuesday and Wednesday, according to a Palestinian source. The prison authority said that “the incident was brought under control immediately, and no harm was caused to the guard.”

The prison authority said in a statement: “According to an operational order by the Prison Service commissioner, Islamic Jihad prisoners are being moved between different maximum security prisons. So far, about 170 inmates have been transferred and over 400 are expected to be moved by this weekend. After several inmates in Ofer Prison resisted the move, they were taken to punishment cells and will face disciplinary proceedings.”