IN the initial chaos of the Hamas attack on Oct. 7, the Israeli military invoked what is known as the Hannibal Protocol, a directive to use force to prevent the kidnapping of soldiers even at the cost of the hostage’s life, according to a report.
Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported Sunday, nine months following the attacks that killed some 1,200 people and kidnapped 250 in the Gaza Strip, that these operational procedures were being applied at three military facilities attacked by Hamas, potentially endangering civilians as well.
Another message delivered to Israel’s Gaza division at 11:22 a.m., some five hours following the attack began, ordered: “No vehicles may return to Gaza.”
A source from the southern command told the newspaper: “Everyone knew at that time that the vehicles might be carrying kidnapped civilians or soldiers… Everyone knew what it meant not to let the vehicles return to Gaza.”
Haaretz said it was not clear whether civilians or soldiers were affected by the order, or in what numbers, but documents and testimonies from soldiers, as well as mid- and senior-ranking IDF officials, indicated the practice was used “widely” on Oct. 7 amid a lack of clear information as the IDF struggled to respond to the attack.
Responding to the report, an IDF spokesman said an internal investigation into what happened on October 7 and the period before was underway.
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“The purpose of this investigation is to learn and draw lessons that can be used in continuing the fight. When this investigation is complete, the results will be presented to the public with transparency,” the statement said.
The Haaretz investigation is the latest report from Israeli media to illuminate failures in military intelligence and operational response surrounding the Hamas offensive, the deadliest single attack on Israeli soil since the state’s founding in 1948.
Israel’s subsequent campaign in Gaza has yet to achieve some of its stated goals, raising concerns that the conflict is on the verge of turning into a protracted insurgency-style war.
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More than 38,000 people have been killed as a result of Israeli military operations in the Palestinian territories, according to the local health ministry, and nearly the entire population of 2.3 million has been displaced in a catastrophic humanitarian crisis.
Allegations first emerged in January that the IDF may have used the Hannibal Protocol to prevent Hamas fighters from returning to Gaza with hostages. Although the directive has only ever been used in relation to the army, a high-profile incident in Kibbutz Be’eri, in which a one-star general ordered a tank to fire projectiles into a house containing Hamas militants and 14 Israelis inside, killing 13 hostages, has raised questions regarding operational procedures that lead to civilian casualties.
A UN investigation found last month that the Israeli military may have killed more than a dozen of its own citizens during the Oct. 7 attack.
Also Sunday, Israel’s Channel 12 reported that a sophisticated early warning system on the Gaza border developed by Unit 8200, part of the IDF’s military intelligence directorate, was poorly maintained and frequently broke down. A dossier presented by Unit 8200 officials before Oct. 7 detailed elaborate Hamas invasion plans, including attacks on Israeli towns and military posts, hostage scenarios and possible outcomes, the report said.
In November, members of an all-female “observer” unit stationed at two points along the Gaza perimeter said they had tried to warn their superiors regarding unusual activity along the fence before the Hamas attack, but were ignored. Fifteen observers were killed on October 7 and six others kidnapped. (The Guardian/Z-3)
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