Thread by @WaywardRabbler

Haaretz: IDF Ordered Hannibal Directive on October 7 to Prevent Hamas Taking Soldiers Captive

On July 7th, an investigation in @haaretzcom confirmed that the Israeli Defense Forces used the infamous Hannibal Directive 9 months earlier, on 10/7

1/23

The Hannibal Directive is a "controversial" protocol whereby the IDF can "prioritize" stopping terrorists over the lives of soldiers they may have captured. Speculation of its use on 10/7 has been rife, especially since a @ynetnews report in January:

2/23thewaywardrabbler.com/p/a-hannibal-d…

The Hannibal Directive has always only applied to soldiers, and even so doesn't allow for intentionally killing them. What Haaretz revealed are three situations where they knew they were likely to be killing soldiers and probably also endangered or killed civilians.

3/23

In the chaos of 10/7 someone, who remains unknown, gave the order that "Not a single vehicle can return to Gaza"

While the extent of kidnapping was then unknown, according to the description by Yaniv Kubovich, everyone knew the order meant firing on IDF soldiers.

4/23

What this investigation shows is that the order went out from the highest level and down throughout military command.

While it is true we don't know how many they killed, or what ratio of Israeli soldiers were killed by the IDF, it is obviously an unacceptable number.

5/23

While you can see from Haaretz and those internal links that this has been greatly discussed in Israel, there has been a media blackout on the Hannibal Directive in the Western press, not even covering Israel's biggest stories.

From January:



6/23

Even their "very senior" IDF source does not know where the order came from, but of course, it did come from somewhere. It is my view that PM Netanyahu, DM Gallant, and IDF Chief of Staff Halevi would have to agree.

Will anyone be held accountable?

7/23

The Hannibal Directive was repealed a number of years ago and replaced with an unknown protocol.

This is the big scoop from Haaretz: this is the first evidence I've seen that they used the word "Hannibal," giving a direct order to drone strike an IDF position.

8/23

Hannibal Orders went on for hours at multiple locations. It is not clear to me what that order to make sure no one was outdoors because they were entering means, but a senior official acknowledges that they knew at the time they might kill their own people

9/23

Here we get a name, Rosenfeld, and again the claim that their intelligence was terrible, so they wildly fired mortars at Gaza. Then they decided no vehicle could return to Gaza, which of course put anyone in those vehicles, including civilians, at grave risk.

10/23

They say there was no case where such a vehicle was "knowingly" attacked, but they knew what they were doing. Then, they issued a "kill anything that moves" order for the border fence. How many IDF and civilians were killed at this stage?

11/23

We need to step back here and note that "Hannibal Directive" became shorthand for such actions, but the actual directive doesn't allow any of it. The IDF's chief ethicist, a specialist in justifying unethical behavior, has been horrified:

12/23

archive.ph/VbrxX

The IDF launched artillery all over the border area, including near Israeli communities, in order to stop these vehicles from returning, but claims it is "not aware" of any civilians harmed in these bombings.

Note that they don't claim it is Hamas in this picture

13/23

Now we reach Kibbutz Be'eri / Pessi Cohen House, the most infamous instance, where they knowingly struck a house full of hostages. This was never in any way authorized by the Hannibal Directive. They note that this seems to just be how the IDF was operating that day.

14/23

"As far as Haaretz knows" even at 9:33 PM, more than 15 hours after the attack began, there was still a free fire order, for "anyone" approaching the border, without restrictions, which of course could mean disoriented Israeli civilians or soldiers

15/23

For its part, the IDF won't even pledge to prosecute wrongdoing, they will simply look at all of this in terms of what it tells them about how to better war against the Palestinians in the future. How will that possibly satisfy the public?

16/23

From 10/7 there has been something wrong with Israel's messaging. I was somewhat slow to get there, but it became apparent over time that they knew they had created unacceptable civilian casualties, and thus had to maintain a frenetic cycle of accusations.

17/23

To again use one of my favorite quotes, this has been Israel's position:

“Only innocent people can afford long-term plans. Flagrant guilt requires audacity. And we have accomplices who share our danger.” - Gaius Silius [Tacitus, Annals, XI.26]

18/23

We were told it was anti-semitic to say Israel caused many casualties. Further, that Hannibal has been repealed and never applied to civilians...both of which are true, but they implemented it anyway. The people who made the accusation against Israel were correct:

19/23

Perhaps the IDF's decision can be justified from a military perspective once they were in the situation they were in, but clearly they don't think it can be justified in domestic or international public opinion. However, the truth will come out one way or another.

20/23

It remains a mistake to try to put percentages on how Israelis were killed on 10/7, but we can be sure, from this and other reporting of the last 9 months, that a substantial amount of Israeli soldiers and civilians were killed by the IDF's panicked response.

21/23

More than anything, what we get from this Haaretz article is that they did literally order a Hannibal Directive, multiple times, by name, not just a similar order.

Who authorized Hannibal Directives on 10/7? Israel, and the world, must know.

-30-

22/23

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I have been on a bit of a break due to a newborn, but am rapidly getting back to work



23/23thewaywardrabbler.com

Thank you to everyone who has helped set the record straight about 10/7: @MaxBlumenthal @aaronjmate @KitKlarenberg @snarwani @scotthortonshow @AntiwarNews @KyleAnzalone_ @caitoz @AsaWinstanley @MarkAmesExiled @AbbyMartin @dancohen3000 @SarcasmStardust @patmacfarlane_ @intifada

dammit I forgot to say

"Thread 🪡"

Oh well, people surely get the idea from 1/23