Nine times Israel used the ‘Hannibal directive’ to kill its own people before 7 October

Israel used order throughout 7 October 2023, killing ‘immense’ number of its own citizens – but that was far from the first time

As has been known since barely a month after the event – and has been admitted by the Israeli military and by former defence minister Yoav Gallant, but ignored by UK media and politicians – 7 October 2023 saw Israel issue ‘Hannibal’ orders roughly every twenty minutes throughout the day, from around 7 in the morning until after 9 at night, shooting at ‘anything that moved’. Gallant even lamented that it hadn’t been used more. The IDF, speaking to Israeli media, admitted that the number of Israelis killed in this way was ‘immense’.

The Hannibal Directive is an Israeli military protocol authorising lethal force to prevent Palestinian militia taking Israeli hostages – by killing everyone, including Israelis. Israeli tanks and particularly helicopters, carried out dozens of Hannibal attacks on 7 October. Many, and potentially a large majority, of Israeli deaths on the day came from so-called ‘friendly fire’ under Hannibal, including those killed in incinerated cars by missile fire.

Hannibal was introduced as long ago as 1986 by the occupation army’s Northern Command after the abduction of several Israeli soldiers in Lebanon in 1982 – who were later released as part of a prisoner exchange that freed more than a thousand Palestinians imprisoned by Israel.

7 October was far from the first time that Hannibal was used to authorise the occupation military to kill Israelis.

Shebaa Farms (2000)

Israeli helicopters attacked a convoy of almost thirty vehicles believed to be carrying three captured Israeli troops – St.-Sgt. Adi Avitan, St.-Sgt. Benyamin Avraham and St.-Sgt. Omar Sawaid – near the Shebaa farms on the Lebanon-Syria border during an almost seven-year conflict named after them. The three were killed.

Gilad Shalit – Kerem Shalom crossing (2006)

An Israeli inquiry headed by retired Israeli general Giora Eiland – the author of the genocidal ‘General’s Plan’ used by Israel against Palestinians in Gaza – found that Hannibal was used in an unsuccessful attempt to prevent occupation soldier Gilad Shalit being taken as a prisoner of war. Five years later, Shalit was released unharmed in exchange for more than a thousand Palestinian detainees.

Ayta ash-Shaab, Lebanon (2006)

A Hannibal order was issued after two Israeli ground troops, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, were captured by Hezbollah, leading to a tank assault and air attacks. Several Israeli troops died in the attack, along with Goldwasser and Regev, whose bodies were returned in an exchange two years later.

Gaza (2009)

An unnamed Israeli soldier was shot in a house during an Israeli raid in Gaza. After other soldiers fled the house and left the wounded soldier behind, a Hannibal order was issued. Soldiers who carried out the order later testified that the house was shelled to prevent the wounded soldier being captured alive.

Erez crossing (2009)

Israeli mental health patient Yakir Ben-Melech was shot dead by Israeli security guards while trying to enter Gaza from Israel by jumping the fence at the Erez crossing in a deluded attempt to rescue Gilad Shalit. A Hannibal order was issued, with Israeli Brigadier General Zvika Fogel later telling an Israeli radio interviewer that “We can’t afford now any soul mate of Gilad Shalit”.

Rafah (2014) (1)

On July 25, Hannibal was ordered after Staff Sgt. Guy Levy was captured. Levy was killed.

Rafah (2014) (2)

During Israel’s 2014 invasion of Gaza, IOF Givati Brigade Lieutenant Hadar Goldin after a battle on August 1 that took place even though a 72-hour ceasefire had just been announced. Analysis by ‘SigInt’ specialists Forensic Architecture for Amnesty International in 2015 concluded that Israel’s ‘Black Friday’ war crime of mass violence against Palestinian civilians in residential areas of Rafah resulted from a Hannibal order, killing around two hundred civilians, including seventy-five children. Goldin was also killed. The Israeli military used more than two thousand bombs, missiles and shells in the attack.

In December that year, audio recordings of the occupation military’s communications were leaked to Israeli media outlet Ynet that confirmed the use of Hannibal, as did later testimonies from troops involved in the attack.

Shuja’iyya (2014)

During the Battle of Shuja’iyya, Israeli soldier Oron Shaul was reportedly killed under a Hannibal order after being captured. Although the occupation military denied its use, it confirmed that Shaul’s body was not among other troops killed during the Hamas attack on his vehicle in which he was captured.

Qalandia Camp (2016)

Two unnamed members of the ‘Oketz’ special forces unit entered Qalandiya Refugee Camp, supposedly by mistake, and were confronted by a Palestinian crowd. Hannibal was declared and the camp was surrounded by a large occupation force. Neither of the two soldiers died, but one Palestinian was killed and ten Palestinians and five Israeli soldiers wounded.

The fact of the widespread and repeated use of Hannibal on 7 October is unsurprising given Israel’s demonstrated willingness to kill its own to avoid having to release Palestinian hostages to get them back. Despite its frank admission by the Israeli military and by Gallant and widespread coverage in Israel, UK media and the Starmer government continue to ignore this reality, instead repeating the false narrative that has been used to justify the slaughter of more than 200,000 civilians in Gaza and the weaponisation of starvation against two million more.

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