Prison chief fired after security prisoner escaped to smuggle cellphones in

The commander of the Eshel prison south of Beersheba and at least one other senior officer, the head of operations, have been removed from their posts by the head of the prisons authority after it was discovered that a security prisoner at the facility had escaped from his cell in order to smuggle in cellphones, Channel 2 reports.

The prisoner reportedly crawled through an air conditioning vent to an “outer facility” of the prison. It is not clear if he was able to leave the prison grounds completely.

Last month Israeli prison officials intercepted a shipment of cellphones being sent to Hamas prisoners at the Eshel prison.

A search of the area and on the prisoner’s person revealed several packages containing the cellphones and cellphone parts, among other items, which had been thrown over the fence, apparently during the night.