this post was submitted on 23 Feb 2026
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MeanwhileOnGrad

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[–] goat@sh.itjust.works 3 points 3 days ago (1 children)

https://www.timesofisrael.com/idf-officers-invoked-defunct-hannibal-protocol-during-oct-7-fighting-report/

https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/israeli-army-investigation-suggests-many-7-october-casualties-caused-friendly-fire

This only collaborates (if the single allegation is true, and that's all we have to work with here) that it was an isolated incident, and soldiers may have been killed by the supposed order. But again, there is no evidence; you can only rely on conspiracy, at which point you're moving from reality into superstition, and I can't prove that negative. Likewise, you can't confirm whether it's true.

https://www.haaretz.com/israel-news/2024-07-07/ty-article-magazine/.premium/idf-ordered-hannibal-directive-on-october-7-to-prevent-hamas-taking-soldiers-captive/00000190-89a2-d776-a3b1-fdbe45520000

Paywall

https://www.ohchr.org/en/press-releases/2024/06/israeli-authorities-palestinian-armed-groups-are-responsible-war-crimes?sub-site=HRC

So I read through the report, which backs up everything I was saying.

Your claim is "There’s also the fact that a considerable number of the deaths on october 7th were caused by the Hannibal protocol" -- The Independent International Commission of Inquiry doesn't support this. The discussion around the Hannibal Directive is typically conspiracy directed that the "considerable number of the deaths on october 7th" were caused by Israeli forces targeting civilians, which is false. There were a few cases of the Hannibal Directive being ordered, so we'll go over them:

So this was when Hamas militants attacked the Music Festival. Some of the civilians fled to a nearby tank, and inside were dead IDF soldiers. The civilians then armed themselves with a machine gun and helmets, but didn't leave the inside of the tank while other civilians hid behind it, some of them making trenches to hide beneath the tank.

Additionaly, an Israeli Secruity Forces reserve Brigadier General, who fought against militants near a parked tank close to the Nova site, stated that he called the Gaza Battalion to request an attack helicopter and that one was deployed, although it served for deterrence purposes only.

According to his statement, he informed the Gaza Battalion of his position and requested the deployment of an attack helicopter to assist in the battle. He stated that a helicopter was sent to their position but could not fire since the pilot could not distinguish between civilians and militants. However, according to him, the presence of the helicopter in the air served as a deterrence to militants who reduced the intensity of their attack.

No confirmed civilian deaths by Hannibal Directive.

A similar allegation was made in an investigative report by an Israeli news publication, stating that, once the first indications of a mass abduction incident were received by Israeli Security Forces, at around noon on 7 October, a Hannibal Directive was issued directing pilots and other Israeli Security Forces personnel to target all vehicles returning to Gaza that day. Although the Commission confirmed the presence of helicopters in the area, it was unable to confirm whether these helicopters directed firepower at any actual targets in the Nova area, vehicles or otherwise.

No confirmed civilian deaths by Hannibal Directive.

Here's some evidence of the Hannibal Directive being used, but only on military targets, not civilians, and none ordered by command. Again, though, there's no evidence of this particular incident causing any deaths.

A video statement by an Israeli Security Forces tank driver, viewed by the Commission, confirms that at least one individual tank team knowingly applied the ‘Hannibal Directive’ that day. In a statement given to an Israeli news channel, a tank driver and commander stated that they targeted two Toyota vehicles with militants and Israelis. This occurred at point 179, close to kibbutz Nir Oz. They noted that there were many people standing in the back of the pickup trucks and what appeared to be a “pile of other people” next to them. The tank team could not confirm whether the people they saw were alive or dead at the time. ... Asked why he decided to shoot at the vehicles, the commander said “something in my gut feeling made me think that they [his soldiers] could be on them [on the vehicles]. Yes, I could have killed them, but I decided that this is the right decision. I prefer stopping the abduction so they won’t be taken.” ... He concluded by saying that to his knowledge he did not kill any soldiers.

So again, no confirmed civilian deaths by Hannibal Directive.

The Commission verified information indicating that, in at least two other cases, Israeli Security Forces counter-offensive actions resulted in harm to and the killing of Israeli civilians and, in one of the cases, the actions were undertaken with clear knowledge of this risk. According to the Commission’s investigation, in these two cases at least 14 Israeli civilians were likely killed as a result of Israeli Security Forces fire: one woman was killed by helicopter fire while being taken from kibbutz Nir Oz to Gaza by militants and the other 13 were likely killed by tank shelling and crossfire in kibbutz Be’eri

According to the 34-year old released abductee’s testimony, on the way to Gaza, an exchange of fire erupted between the militants and Israeli Security Forces, who were trying to stop them. As a result of the shooting, her mother was killed, while she herself was wounded in her back and one of her daughters was wounded in her leg.

The other 13 came from a stand-off between Israeli forces and Hamas terrorists. Approximately 40 Hamas militants and members of other armed groups broke into an Israeli house, killing one civilian and wounding the other. They then started to bring all the abducted civilians into this house to act as hostages. 15 were in the house by the time the Israeli forces arrived, with the other hostages pinned in the courtyard and around the property, who were used as human shields by exposed militants. The Hamas commander surrendered to the Israeli forces, but the other 40 militants did not. A small firefight broke out. The Hamas commander was allowed to use a loudspeaker to tell his militant forces to surrender, but they did not. The fighting continued, with civilians used as human shields and pinned in different areas around the property, while 15 were in the house. The fighting escalated with RPG fire and other explosives targeting the Israeli forces. After a few hours, the Israeli General gave the order to fire tank shells around the house, two were used as warning shots around the property, and then the final shot was targeting the house's roof.

some of these details and claimed that a total of three shells were fired at the house that day: two initial shells were fired earlier in the afternoon and were intended as warning shells aimed at targets adjacent to the house. These shells did not cause significant damage to the structure or to the people inside it. According to the investigation, only at around 19:00 Israeli Security Forces led by Yamam considered a strike that would “aim to end the situation”. A decision was then made to shell the roof of the house. Following the shelling, Yamam forces entered the home, took note that some people were still alive, including militants, and saw a woman who had survived. They removed her from the house as it went up in flames

Thirteen people were killed in this incident, including two 12-year-old twins, Liel and Yanai Hezroni, and their aunt, Ayala Hezroni. The Commission notes that at least some of the hostages were killed by crossfire while they were in the garden.

So to conclude: There is no evidence of the Hannibal Directive at the command-level, or that it was reinstated. There is only evidence that one tank crew applied the Hannibal Directive to themselves. There is documented friendly fire and crossfire, but no evidence that this accounts for a significant proportion of total deaths.

Now a question for you: Are Hamas responsible for a significant proportion of deaths during the attack?

[–] NihilsineNefas@slrpnk.net -1 points 3 days ago (1 children)

Well would you look at that, you managed to take the one thing in my first statement that you could dispute and turn it into a set of paragraphs while completely ignoring the rest of my point.

You even managed to turn me saying "A considerable number of deaths" into the strawman of "a significant portion of total deaths"

Which is A: not what I said

B: Completely missing the point

C: Failing to do any research outside of the VERY softball sources I sent you, because I knew you wouldn't react well to being told that you've been lied to about these "dangerous hamas terrorists" and how israel is entirely justified in genociding them because they attacked back against the settlers.

This was Palestine before the colonization push started and before the first Nakba

And this is what remains of that tiny segment of land left over in the South West coast, known as Gaza.

I'd like for you to gain a little empathy, instead of trying to make some form of "both sides bad" argument that only justifies israel in continuing to break any form of 'ceasefire' by letting them point at a building and say "hamas is there" before artillery or airstrikes get called in.

You know. Like they did with the hospitals. And the universities.

[–] goat@sh.itjust.works 3 points 3 days ago

You said: "There’s also the fact that a considerable number of the deaths on october 7th were caused by the Hannibal protocol"

That's false. When I pointed out that it was false, you linked sources that also said it was false. So I went into detail and explained it to you. Consider how far you are in campist rhetroic that you take me calling you out for a falsehood, the same as me taking the side of Zionism, which I am not. I care purely for facts and will call out falsehoods regardless of which pretend side spouts them.

Likewise, you are conflating Hamas with the innocent Palestinian civilian populace. I've linked it elsewhere in this thread, but Hamas also mistreats and punishes Palestinians who oppose them.

Both Israel and Hamas can be bad for different reasons, you don't need to support one or the other. You can condemn both. I condemn both the IDF, the Israeli Government and Hamas/militants. Why can't you?