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Source: Hal Turner
Date: February 10, 2025
Israel’s former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, admitted that Israeli troops were ordered to invoke the "Hannibal Directive" on 7 October 2023, leading to significant Israeli casualties. With “hundreds” reportedly killed by Israeli forces, his admission raises questions about the justification of the subsequent Gaza offensive.
The fallout from 7 October 2023 is now further complicated by revelations that a significant number of Israeli deaths that day were caused by Israeli forces themselves.
Official figures show that Israeli airstrikes on Gaza involved over 11,000 shells, 500 heavy bombs, and 180 missiles.
While 1,139 individuals in Israel were killed during the raid by the Palestinian militant group Hamas, prior investigations by independent journalists and international bodies suggest that at least ‘hundreds’ of the Israeli deaths were the result of the Hannibal Directive—raising profound questions about the justification for the subsequent Gaza offensive.
This suggestion that the majority of deaths resulted from Israel’s own actions was reinforced by Israel’s former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, who confirmed in an interview on 8 February that Israeli troops were ordered to invoke the Hannibal Directive on 7 October 2023, allowing them to fire on vehicles carrying Israeli captives to prevent their abduction.
His statement marks the first public acknowledgment by a senior official of the directive’s application to both soldiers and civilians.