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Megiddo Prison is an Israeli prison facility located near the Megiddo Junction. [1]
The prison itself was built over the ruins of the Jewish village of Othnai, which was later replaced by a Roman army camp. Remains of one of the oldest churches in the world have been found there. [2] [3]
In the 1970s, Megiddo Prison was used as a military prison for long-term prisoners. Following the outbreak of the First Intifada at the end of 1987, the prison was used to incarcerate Palestinian prisoners, under the responsibility of the military police force. At the height of the Intifada, between 1,000 and 2,000 Palestinian prisoners were imprisoned there, most in administrative detention without trial.
In February 1989, a large-scale riot broke out in the prison, following the cancellation of family visits, hundreds of prisoners tried to climb fences. The military police opened fire, killing one and wounding 20.
In the mid-1990s, Mosab Hassan Yousef decided to accept a Shin Bet offer to become an informant after witnessing Hamas inmates leading a brutal year-long campaign at the prison to weed out supposed Israeli collaborators, using techniques such as torture and murder. [4]
Following many escape attempts that took place in the prison, including the digging of escape tunnels, a deep moat filled with concrete was dug around it.
In January 2005, soldiers serving in the prison were accused of selling about 150 mobile phones to security detainees. On February 5, 2005, the prison was transferred to the responsibility of the prison service. In the past, the prison was built as a tent camp, but with the transfer of responsibility for the facility to the Shavas, the construction of permanent wings began in the prison, as a replacement for the tents.
On 23 February 2013, Arafat Jaradat, a 30-year-old Palestinian who had been arrested by the Shin Bet 5 days earlier died in the Megiddo Prison. The cause of death is disputed, according to the Palestinians he died as a result of torture, while Israel said heJaradat died as a result of heart failure. [5]
In September 2024 photos and videos revealed Israeli security guards mistreating Palestinian prisoners at the Megiddo Prison. Since the outbreak of the war, Palestinian detainees, as well as those with Israeli citizenship, reported in numerous cases being subject to humiliation, starvation, medical neglect, violence and torture. An unnamed senior Israeli Prisons Service official acknowledged to the media that there is ″severe violence″ against prisoners, while the service described procedures as ″routine″. [6] [4]
At the end of 2005, as part of an archaeological dig at the Legio site on the depopulated Palestinian village of Lajjun, which is within the prison's boundaries, a mosaic and the remains of a building were found, which are apparently the oldest church in the world. In July 2006, the Israeli government decided, because of the historical importance of the site, that the prison would be vacated in favor of a tourist site. In December 2009, the local planning and construction committee approved a plan to relocate the prison 2 km to the west, in order to open the remains of the church to visitors. In October 2014, the National Planning and Construction Councilapproved an amendment to the national outline plan for prisons in Israel (TMA 24), for the new location of the prison.
In the summer of 2023, requests came from the Vatican and the Museum of the Bible (Washington) to move the mosaic from its place and display it in exhibitions in Rome or Washington. It has not yet been decided whether it will be moved from Israel and where, because time is needed to prepare it, and also to prepare its current place as a visitor center. [9]
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