Initial reports were that the prison guard on duty was asleep at his post in a guard tower at the time that six convicted terrorists escaped from Gilboa prison.
Now there are new reports that the guard tower overlooking the spot where the escapees exited the tunnel they dug from their cell was in fact unmanned at the time, according to Israeli media citing prison staff.
Israel Minister of Internal Security Omer Bar-Lev has called for the establishment of a government commission to investigate the Gilboa prison break. The escape of six convicted terrorists just before the start of the Rosh Hashanah holiday has turned Israel upside down.
Israel’s security forces are conducting a nationwide manhunt for the prisoners and have already arrested members of their families for assisting them.
Earlier today Bar-Lev vowed to capture the six escapees.
“We will get our hands on the fleeing terrorists, we will correct the failures that might have led to the escape – and if we find professional negligence, we will take care of that as well,” he said.