Hannibal Directive
The Israeli army deployed its controversial Hannibal Directive during the October 7 Hamas-led attacks on Israel, resulting in civilian and military casualties, according to an investigation by Haaretz. The Hannibal Directive allows the military to use all necessary force to prevent the capture of soldiers, even if it results in the deaths of those soldiers.
For nearly two decades, the Hannibal Directive, also known as the Hannibal Procedure or Protocol, was kept under wraps by military censorship. The directive permits the Israeli military to use extreme measures to prevent soldiers from being captured and taken into enemy territory. This includes actions that could result in the death of the captives.
The doctrine was developed in 1986 after three soldiers from the Givati Brigade were captured by Hezbollah in Lebanon. At that time, Israel occupied a southern region of Lebanon, having invaded the country in 1982.
Hezbollah captured soldiers patrolling this zone, which remained under Israeli occupation until 2000. During the incident, brigade members saw a vehicle escaping with their fellow soldiers but did not open fire. The Hannibal Directive was created to ensure such a scenario would not occur again.
The remains of the captured soldiers were returned to Israel in 1996 in exchange for the bodies of 123 Hezbollah fighters, according to the Israeli government.
Israel’s stringent stance is due to the strategic value of a soldier’s abduction for an enemy. Yehuda Shaul, founder of Israeli NGO Breaking the Silence, explained that captives provide negotiating power and can influence national morale and public support for a conflict. Additionally, enemies cannot extract strategic information if the soldiers are killed before being taken captive.
The fate of captives taken by Hamas fighters into Gaza on October 7 continues to drive Israeli public opinion against Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s administration. The return of captives has become a defining aspect of the war, prioritized in various polls conducted by Israeli institutions.
Previous captives, such as Israeli soldier Gilad Shalit, seized by Hamas in 2006, were also significant. Shalit was released after five years in captivity in exchange for more than 1,000 Palestinian prisoners, the highest number Israel has released for any soldier.
The origins of the directive’s name are disputed. Some sources suggest it is named after a Carthaginian general who chose to poison himself instead of falling captive to the Romans in 181 BC.
However, Israeli military officials claim a computer randomly generated the name. In 2016, reports indicated that Israeli military chief Lieutenant-General Gadi Eisenkot had decided to cancel the Hannibal Protocol due to confusion over its application.
Despite reports of its cancellation, Haaretz’s investigation revealed that Israeli commanders ordered its deployment without clarification during the chaotic response to the October 7 attacks.
The attacks killed 1,139 people, and 251 others were taken captive to Gaza. Haaretz reviewed military documents and gathered testimonies from soldiers and officers, demonstrating the directive’s use at various attack locations.
During the chaos, Israeli army commanders allegedly deployed the directive at three military facilities. However, the orders did not distinguish between soldiers and civilians being captured.
According to Haaretz, at 7:18 a.m., during the early hours of the attack, a report of a kidnapping at Beit Hanoon led to the order “Hannibal at Erez” with no further explanation. A subsequent message ordered that no vehicles could return to Gaza, indicating a shared understanding of the directive’s implications.
A UN-backed report from last month estimated that over a dozen civilians and soldiers were lost to Israeli fire that day, but Haaretz noted it is impossible to determine the exact number of Israeli losses due to the directive.
The Hannibal Directive has been suspected or confirmed to have been used on several occasions before its supposed revocation in 2016. Instances include the 2000 capture of three Israeli soldiers by Hezbollah, the 2006 abduction of an Israeli soldier by Hamas, the 2008 war on Gaza, and the 2014 abduction of a junior Israeli officer in Rafah, which resulted in significant civilian casualties.
Despite the controversy, the Israeli government and military have often denied that the directive allows for the deliberate killing of soldiers.
However, confusion over the directive’s wording and restricted written versions have led to ambiguity over the value placed on individual lives during abductions. In 2011, then-military chief Benny Gantz stated that the directive did not permit killing soldiers to prevent abduction.
Discussions about the Hannibal Directive were reportedly banned by the Israeli military censor until 2003, and the military has not officially commented on its use.
Approached by Haaretz, an Israeli military spokesperson said internal investigations of the October 7 events are underway, aiming to learn and draw lessons. The results will be presented to the public with transparency once the investigations conclude.
