In the first few weeks after the October 7, 2023 Hamas attack on Israel, Max Blumenthal was alerting people via his writing at The Grayzone that a significant portion of the killing the Israel government was blaming on Hamas appeared to have actually been done by the Israel government itself. Apparently contributing to this outcome, wrote Blumenthal, was an Israel government policy called the Hannibal Directive.
Blumenthal explained:
If Israel’s military had intentionally targeted areas where it knew the captives were held, its actions would have been consistent with Israel’s Hannibal Directive. The military procedure was established in 1986 following the Jibril Agreement, a deal in which Israel traded 1150 Palestinian prisoners for three Israeli soldiers. Following heavy political backlash, the Israeli military drafted a secret field order to prevent future kidnappings. The proposed operation drew its name from the Carthaginian general who chose to poison himself rather than be held captive by the enemy.
The last confirmed application of the Hannibal Directive took place on August 1, 2014 in Rafah, Gaza, when Hamas fighters captured an Israeli officer, Lt. Hadar Goldin, prompting the military to unleash more than 2000 bombs, missiles and shells on the area, killing the soldier along with over 100 Palestinian civilians.
In the ensuing months, much more information has come to light indicating Israel government action in line with the Hannibal Directive caused the deaths of many Israelis — Israelis killed by the Israeli military in their homes, in cars, and even in an Israeli military installation.
Over at Truth in Media, reporter Ben Swann has released a new video report that puts together some of the growing evidence of the Israel government having employed on October 7 what Swann relates been referred to as a “mass Hannibal.” You can watch his video report here.
It is important to get to the bottom of who killed who on October 7. First, determining the facts develops a record of events based in truth. It allows us to understand history correctly. Second, ascertaining the truth allows for the proper determination of responsibility — the understanding of who is liable morally or legally for what.
However, the Israel government has sought over the last nine months to place the blame for the deaths entirely on Hamas. It is no coincidence that over this same nine months the Israel government has been pursuing the decimation of Gaza and the people who live there, arguing this course of action is justified as a response to the October 7 attack.
A propaganda story of what happened on October 7 that whitewashes the Israel government’s actions is an important part of the war effort. Indeed, truth is the first casualty in war.