‘I was saved by a miracle,’ says Israeli prison guard stabbed by Hamas inmates

The authorities “will not be deterred” in their efforts to prevent terror attacks being directed at Israeli civilians from prison, Public Security Minister Erdan said.

By Batya Jerenberg, World Israel News

Sagie Shiloan, one of two prison guards stabbed with a homemade knife Sunday night, ascribed his survival to a miracle when interviewed at the hospital Monday on Israel Television.

“I was hit very close to the artery [in the neck],” he noted. “Miraculously, everything is OK.”

Shiloan, whose wife is about to give birth, added that he and his fellow guards work daily among security prisoners, but “we are very strong and do our job the way it’s supposed to be done.”

He and another guard were injured Sunday evening in an attack by Hamas prisoners in the Ketziot detention center in southern Israel. In the ensuing riot, 12 prisoners were hurt.

The IDF airlifted Shiloan and five of the prisoners by helicopter to the Soroka Medical Center in Beersheba. The other guard, who was lightly injured in the hand, was also taken to the hospital.

A spokesman for Soroka said later that Shiloan’s condition has stabilized and that his condition is now considered “moderate.” Of the five inmates still hospitalized, two are in severe condition, one is moderately injured and two are lightly hurt.

The terrorists reportedly carried out the attack in response to the curtailing of their phone privileges. Israeli security recently installed devices jamming cellphones that were smuggled into the prison.

Hamas spokesman Musa Doudin blamed Israel for the attack, claiming that the prison authorities were denying Palestinian prisoners their rights as “mandated by international law,” according to Israel National News. The prison warden’s “stubborn refusal” to meet their “justified demands” therefore directly led the inmates “to take practical steps to ensure their rights,” Doudin claimed.

Minister of Public Security Gilad Erdan, who is in charge of the Israel Prison Service, pushed back on Monday when he visited the more seriously wounded officer in the hospital.

The authorities “will not be deterred” in their efforts to prevent terror attacks being directed at Israeli civilians from prison, Erdan said. “We will continue with the screening project,” he insisted, according to Kan News. “The prisoners involved [in the attack] will pay a heavy price,” he added