Hamas allegedly planned to seize control of the Shikma prison near Ashkelon on October 7 in order to free numerous Palestinian security prisoners but the plan failed due to a navigation error made by the Nukhba terrorists, the London-based pro-Saudi newspaper Asharq Al-Awsat reported.
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The sources revealed to the Saudi newspaper that the terrorists from Gaza crossed the border into Israel toward Yad Mordechai, engaged in a confrontation with Israeli forces, but for reasons that remain unclear eventually returned southward, toward Kibbutz Nativ Ha'Asara. Subsequently, the same group of terrorists moved in the direction of Sderot. Another group of terrorists had plans to infiltrate a military outpost in the Ashkelon Coast Regional Council and provide support to the Nukhba members if the mission had been accomplished, according to the report.
The plan reportedly involved launching an attack on the prison's main gate using explosives and anti-tank missiles, as well as firing rockets toward the facility once a signal confirming the terrorists' presence inside was received. Hamas intended for this operation to deliver a significant blow to Israel.
The terrorists expected that the prisoners inside the prison cells would assist the them once the attack on the prison began, in an effort to facilitate their release, according to the report. However, subsequent information revealed the same group of terrorists ended up in Sderot, joined by two additional groups, with their primary objective being to maintain their positions for as long as possible.
Furthermore, the sources disclosed to the newspaper that four terrorists who took part in the attacks on Kibbutz Zikim, located south of Ashkelon, were also assigned the task of taking control of the prison but were killed in the process.
Since the start of the conflict, an additional 3,400 security prisoners, including Hamas operatives from Gaza, including hundreds of Nukhba terrorists, and many from the West Bank, have been added to the prison population. As a result, Israel declared a "state of emergency in the prison system,." Among the results of this are that thousands of prisoners are sleeping on mattresses placed on the floor in overcrowded cells in prisons across the country.