The Israeli military ordered the Hannibal Directive – a controversial Israeli navy coverage geared toward stopping the seize of Israeli troopers by enemy forces at any value – on October 7 final yr, an investigation by the Israeli newspaper Haaretz has revealed.
In a report on Sunday, the newspaper, based mostly on testimonies of Israeli troopers and senior military officers, mentioned that in Hamas’s unprecedented assault final October, the Israeli military began making choices with restricted and unverified data, and issued an order that “not a single car can return to Gaza”.
“At this level, the [Israeli army] was not conscious of the extent of kidnapping alongside the Gaza border, however it did know that many individuals had been concerned. Thus, it was fully clear what that message meant, and what the destiny of a number of the kidnapped folks can be,” the report mentioned.
On October 7, Hamas captured dozens of Israelis, lots of whom are nonetheless in captivity or have been killed in Israeli air strikes on Gaza, in line with the Palestinian armed group. However lots of these captured had been civilians and never troopers, to whom the Hannibal Directive doesn’t apply.
The dying toll in Israel from the Hamas-led assaults is estimated to be 1,139, whereas almost 250 others had been taken as captives, Israeli authorities say. In the meantime, greater than 38,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli assaults on Gaza since October 7, in line with an Al Jazeera tally based mostly on official statistics.
Whereas Haaertz mentioned it was not conscious what number of troopers and civilians had been hit as a result of Hannibal navy process, it added that “the cumulative information signifies that most of the kidnapped folks had been in danger, uncovered to Israeli gunfire, even when they weren’t the goal”.
The report mentioned the Hannibal protocol “was employed at three military services infiltrated by Hamas” and “this didn’t stop the kidnapping of seven of them [soldiers] or the killing of 15 different spotters, in addition to 38 different troopers”.
What’s the Hannibal Directive?
The Hannibal Directive, often known as the Hannibal Process or Hannibal Protocol, is an Israeli navy coverage that stipulates using most drive within the occasion of a soldier being kidnapped, Yehuda Shaul, a former Israeli military soldier, had informed Al Jazeera in November of final yr.
“You’ll open fireplace with out constraints, as a way to stop the kidnapping,” he mentioned, including that using drive is carried out even on the danger of killing a captive soldier.
Along with firing on the abductors, troopers can fireplace at junctions, roads, highways and different pathways opponents could take a kidnapped soldier by, Shaul added.
Israel final invoked the Hannibal Directive in 2014 throughout its battle on Gaza that yr, in line with leaked navy audio recordings, although the Israeli military denied it had used the doctrine.
Dozens of Palestinians had been killed within the Israeli bombardment that adopted, sparking accusations of battle crimes towards the Israeli military.
The directive is believed to have been revoked in 2016, although it’s unclear what led to its annulment. A report by Israel’s state comptroller additionally beneficial the military abolish the directive due to the criticism it obtained in addition to due to its numerous interpretations by these within the military, Haaretz mentioned.
In accordance with Haaretz’s investigation, a senior Israeli military supply additionally confirmed the Hannibal process was “employed on October 7”. The supply mentioned post-war investigations would reveal who gave the order.
In the meantime, an Israeli military spokesperson informed the newspaper that the military “has begun conducting inner investigations of what transpired on October 7 and the previous interval”.
“The intention of those investigations is to study and to attract classes which may very well be utilized in persevering with the battle. When these investigations are concluded, the outcomes shall be offered to the general public with transparency,” the spokesperson mentioned, in line with the Israeli newspaper.
