The Israel Prison Service’s legal adviser, Brig. Gen. Eran Nahon, asked the State Attorney’s Office on Monday to approve an emergency IPS regulation for 24 hours and to cancel the transfer of detainees from prison facilities to 270 court hearings, due to the redeployment of forces to handle the hostage-release operation, ynet has learned.
The reason, the legal adviser detailed, is that about 75% of the Nachshon Unit’s personnel — roughly 700 fighters — are required to escort the Palestinian prisoners being released.
He added that “the Nachshon Unit is operating under exceptional strain, in light of concurrent operations (escorting flotilla detainees to Gaza and routine missions),” and said: “Direct contact with security prisoners, including those to be released in the deal, creates a high security risk for the unit’s fighters. There is a real fear of disturbances, attempts to harm and escape attempts, especially by prisoners who will remain in the jail and who will feel despair after not being included in the deal.”
On Saturday, a prisoner slated for release attacked a prison guard during the identity-chain procedure that inmates undergo at Ketziot prison. The detainee, who was captured during the ground maneuver in the Gaza Strip, had been expected to be released back to Gaza — but his release was cancelled after the attack and he will remain in prison.
"During an operational activity as part of the preparations in the Ketziot deportation complex a prisoner attacked a corrections officer and she required local medical treatment. A corrections unit that was with her subdued him and he was transferred to detention and investigation by the Israel Police,” the IPS said in a statement.
“The corrections forces continue to operate in the prisons and deportation complexes against the worst of the enemy even now, in accordance with the directives of the political echelon — all in order to enable the return of the hostages to Israel,” the statement also said.
After the attack the detainee was transferred for questioning to the Segev Shalom police station and was supposed to return to the prison and be released, following a police instruction not to jeopardize the deal. Nonetheless, the Prison Commissioner, Maj. Gen. Kobi Yaakobi, demanded that he be removed from the release list, and his detention has been extended.