Report: Hamas terrorists planned to free prisoners from Ashkelon jail on Oct. 7 but got lost on the way

Ashkelon’s Shikma Prison was one of the targets in Hamas’s October 7 onslaught, but the terror group’s plans to storm the prison and release Palestinian prisoners held there apparently failed when they got lost on the way, London-based Asharq Al-Awsat reports.

The report cites unnamed Palestinian sources as saying that one of the first groups of Hamas terrorists that crossed the Gaza border on October 7 was meant to reach the prison, where hundreds of Palestinian security prisoners are held, but failed due to a “technical error” with the navigation equipment.

The report adds that the cell headed for Ashkelon comprised 23 terrorists.

Shikma Prison is located some 13 kilometers north of the nearest border point in the northern Gaza Strip, southeast of Ashkelon.