Israeli security personnel stand together outside the walls of Gilboa prison in north Israel September 6, 2021. REUTERS/ Gil Eliyahu

i24 News – A prison official who was in command at the Gilboa prison at the time when alleged assaults on a female guard by a Palestinian inmate took place, was questioned by Israeli police on Monday.

The man, whose identity was not released, confirmed to Ynet that he went through hours of questioning but did not give details on its nature.

Earlier on Monday, Israel’s Defense Minister Benny Gantz said that he will “re-examine the continued placement of female soldiers and career officers in the Israel Prison Services, seeing as that their job is to deal directly with security prisoners.”

The term “security prisoners” refers to Palestinian inmates, who were charged with terrorist attacks against Israelis. Gantz underlined that the soldiers tasked to handle dangerous terrorists should receive special training.

The former Gilboa prison guard claimed last week that she was raped by one of the inmates, while her commander not only knew about the assault but “handed her over” to the prisoner. According to her, the inmate was allowed by the commander to walk freely through the prison corridors without handcuffs and “touched the bodies of female soldiers without restraint.”

Israel’s Prime Minister Yair Lapid on Sunday said that “it cannot be that a soldier is raped by a terrorist during her service” and pledged for the independent investigation to be launched to make sure “such an incident never happens again.”