Haaretz confirms: IDF Ordered Hannibal Directive on October 7

[Didymus 34,380]

Haaretz, Israel's most respected newspaper, has confirmed what has long been suspected: on October 7th, the Israeli army ordered the infamous "Hannibal Directive", not once but multiple times.

What is the Hannibal Directive? It is a highly controversial procedure created by the Israeli army to prevent the kidnapping of soldiers. In practice, it means the army forces may attack and even kill fellow soldiers and, most controversially, civilians (Israeli or foreign) if army forces are captured or at risk of capture by the enemy. The procedure has been cloaked in secrecy, making it controversial within Israeli society and beyond, particularly because the Directive could be invoked by even local commanders rather than superior officers.

Though officially revoked in 2016 due to public pressure, Haaretz has verified documents and communications that prove the Israeli army explicitly reintroduced the practice and its terminology, not once but as a widespread general strategy during the Hamas attack on October 7th, indicating that the army was consciously aware that many civilian lives, including those kidnapped, were at severe risk of being killed by its own forces. The decisions to invoke the procedure seem to have been part of a general internal chaos in the overwhelmed army, as it faced the unexpected scale of the attack.

Perhaps most surprisingly, Haaretz's investigation includes confirmation of the army's decision to attack its own army bases, one of them a divisional headquarters, as they were infiltrated by Hamas terrorists. A military source cited by the newspaper claims this decision would "haunt senior commanders all their lives", as they were aware of the likelihood of Israeli soldiers being killed in the process.

As for civilian casualties, the investigation confirms that at 10:32 AM, the army was ordered to fire mortars towards the Gaza border in an effort to stop the vehicles carrying kidnapped soldiers and civilians from crossing it. Haaretz adds that this decision was particularly controversial within the Israeli military itself, as, at this point, there was no clear picture of where soldiers and civilians were located along the border, "some of these (...) in open areas or in woods along the border, trying to hide from the terrorists".

Yet, even when a more complete picture of these locations and of the number of kidnapped civilians emerged, orders given at 11.22 AM and 2.00 PM doubled down on the decision, ordering the army to "stop" any vehicle attempting to cross the border by any means necessary. "The instruction (...) was meant to turn the area around the border fence into a killing zone", as put by one of the military sources.

The investigation also mentions previous confirmation that the Hannibal Directive was invoked on the ground, such as in the village of Be'eri, where Division 99 controversially fired a tank at a house held by Hamas, knowingly killing civilian hostages (13 out of 14) inside it. Haaretz additionally confirms that as late as 9.33 PM, the army was ordered to open fire "at anyone approaching the border area, without any restrictions".

Until now, the IDF has refused to confirm whether the Hannibal Directive was used. A spokesman for the IDF states that the army is conducting its own internal investigations and will publish its findings "with transparency". He adds that the goal of the investigations is to "learn and to draw lessons which could be used in continuing the battle".

[StarstruckIllusion 53,563]

The world’s most transparent, advanced and moral army strikes again 🙄

[alsemanche 97,796]

Which is what we've been saying since day 1 

[Pennywise 36,080]

Very surprising news that shocked us all or something. I am flabbergasted, even. 

 

That colony, as always, is rotten to the core. What else is news? 


 

[Didymus 34,380]

I'll add that this is the first time the army has invoked this procedure in the context of civilian abductions. As Haaretz reported earlier (https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-01-17/ty-article/.premium/unlawful-unethical-horrifying-idf-ethics-expert-on-controversial-hannibal-directive/0000018d-186c-dd75-addd-faedd2b80000), this could be illegal, and a part of the reason why the IDF is stalling its investigations and its going public with their findings.

[Roughhouse Dandy 13,599]

Shocked I tell you. 

[River 127,333]

this new revelation is getting buried in the Israeli media so far, only Haaretz published it, but of course the Hebrew version is behind paywall so the amount of people who actually gonna read it is very minimal.

 

But anyway, this war is a smokescreen, in the meantime they are preparing to take over the west bank and the world sleeps on it like idiots.

[Ronlop 6,882]

Horrible, but it was pretty clear by now. Those who ordered the Hannibal Directive should be held accountable.

However, this doesn't change the fact that the majority of deaths on October 7 were caused by Hamas rather than IDF. 

The videos showing houses being burned one by one, people being killed on sight, and the kidnapping of women, children, and the elderly, along with the UN's report on likely rapes in various areas, all provide enough evidence to identify the perpetrators and distinguish them from those acting in self-defense on Oct 7th.

This article will obviously be exploited by those who deny Hamas' brutal massacre on October 7 and they will use this to try to portray Hamas in a more favorable light. It's important to remember that literally none of this would have happened if Hamas hadn't decided to carry out a mass massacre with the intent to kill and kidnap as many people as possible.

[alsemanche 97,796]

8 minutes ago, Ronlop said:

It's important to remember that literally none of this would have happened if Israel hadn't decided to carry out genicode after genonice with the intent to ethincally cleanse Palestinians and take over their land.

fixed it for you

[Ethereal Mess 603]

30 minutes ago, Ronlop said:

The videos showing houses being burned one by one

Yea by the IOF’s apache helicopters

[Didymus 34,380]

19 minutes ago, Ronlop said:

Horrible, but it was pretty clear by now. Those who ordered the Hannibal Directive should be held accountable.

However, this doesn't change the fact that the majority of deaths on October 7 were caused by Hamas rather than IDF. 

The videos showing houses being burned one by one, people being killed on sight, and the kidnapping of women, children, and the elderly, along with the UN's report on likely rapes in various areas, all provide enough evidence to identify the perpetrators and distinguish them from those acting in self-defense on Oct 7th.

This article will obviously be exploited by those who deny Hamas' brutal massacre on October 7 and they will use this to try to portray Hamas in a more favorable light. It's important to remember that literally none of this would have happened if Hamas hadn't decided to carry out a mass massacre with the intent to kill and kidnap as many people as possible.

I'm not understanding what you're saying. Should the people who ordered the Directive be held accountable or is it part of "acting in self-defense"?

Also, if we're going to invoke language of self-defense, perpetrators, etc., aren't you just opening the can of worms that is the truckload of evidence of Israeli forces committing war crimes against Palestinians?

Israel is the one who exploited Hamas' presence to sabotage a two-state solution, so if you wanna play the "none of this would have happened" game, I'm afraid you'll lose no matter what.

[ALittleMonsta 1,529]

i ****ing hate this country

[littlepotter 76,610]

The end is near for these monsters

[Sherry 4,715]

These monsters are willing to kill each other. Did you all really think they'll hesitate to kill the Palestinian civilians and muslims? lol

[Ronlop 6,882]

2 hours ago, Didymus said:

I'm not understanding what you're saying. Should the people who ordered the Directive be held accountable or is it part of "acting in self-defense"?

I agree that the term "self-defense" in this context isn't accurate. I was referring more to the rationale behind that decision, not its legality or morality.

You even mentioned it in the OP, it is "a highly controversial procedure created by the Israeli army to prevent the kidnapping of soldiers." This directive would not have been enacted if the perpetrators had not initiated the attack. The IDF's actions were aimed at preventing these abductions from occurring. 

In cases where innocent civilians were killed by the IDF as a result of this directive, it reflects poor decision-making by local commanders and a disproportionate response stemming from the IDF's inability to manage the chaos. And for that reason, those responsible for issuing this directive should be held accountable.

However, this should not absolve Hamas of accountability, as some even in this thread seem to suggest. It is crucial to distinguish between a force attempting to prevent a situation with a disproportionate and unjust response, and a force that actively planned and executed a mass massacre and kidnapping of hundreds of people. Blurring the line between the two doesn't make any sense to me.

 

2 hours ago, Didymus said:

Also, if we're going to invoke language of self-defense, perpetrators, etc., aren't you just opening the can of worms that is the truckload of evidence of Israeli forces committing war crimes against Palestinians?

Israel is the one who exploited Hamas' presence to sabotage a two-state solution, so if you wanna play the "none of this would have happened" game, I'm afraid you'll lose no matter what.

This boils down to whether one justifies the October 7th attack. Of course it didn't happen in a vacuum but the fundamental question remains: can the killing, abduction, and rape of innocent people be justified under any circumstances?

You can argue that Hamas wouldn't have attacked on October 7th if Israel hadn't been occupying Palestinian territories and sabotaging their path to a Palestinian state. Yet, does this justify Hamas initiating a mass assault on innocent civilians? In my opinion, the answer is no.

So it's crucial to recognize that Hamas initiated this act without no moral justification and should be held responsible for the casualties it caused. While the findings from Haaretz do raise questions about the IDF's actions on that day, they do not significantly change the well-known fact that the IDF failed miserably on that day. And it certainly shouldn't detract from holding Hamas accountable as the primary perpetrators of the events on October 7th, which is what I see so many people doing right now.