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War crimes and crimes against humanity have been committed by both Israeli authorities and Hamas, as well as other Palestinian armed groups, during the eight-month ongoing Gaza conflict, a United Nations-backed inquiry recently concluded.
In a shocking claim, the report, issued by a UN independent human rights body, also said that during the Hamas-led October 7 attack on communities in southern Israel, Israeli forces allegedly applied the so-called ‘Hannibal Directive’ and killed at least 14 Israeli civilians.
The report covers the period from the October 7 attack and Israel’s subsequent war on Gaza to December 31, 2023, when the period of the report’s investigation ended. The report of the Independent International Commission of Inquiry on the Occupied Palestinian Territory, including East Jerusalem, and Israel, was released on Wednesday.
What is Israel accused of?
In its report, the Commission said that it was “aware of allegations that Israeli Security Forces (ISF) used the ‘Hannibal Directive’ to prevent the capture of Israeli civilians and their transfer to Gaza, even at the cost of killing them.”
“Such allegations were made in relation to ISF actions in the Nova festival site, including reports of ISF attack helicopters shooting at Israeli civilian cars, resulting in the killing of Israelis,” said the report, adding, “The Commission confirmed the presence of at least eight attack helicopters in various locations on October 7, but it could not confirm that they shot at civilians or civilian cars, including in the area of the festival.”
However, the report said that the Commission “documented one statement by an ISF tank crew, confirming that the crew had applied the Hannibal Directive by shooting at a vehicle which they suspected was transporting abducted ISF soldiers”.
The report also said that the Commission “verified information indicating that, in at least two other cases, ISF had likely applied the Hannibal Directive, resulting in the killing of up to 14 Israeli civilians”.
The Hannibal Directive is reportedly a procedure to prevent the capture of ISF members by enemy forces.
Speaking to Al Jazeera in November 2023, Yehuda Shaul, an Israeli military veteran, said that the directive was also known as the Hannibal Procedure or Hannibal Protocol.
According to Shaul, a co-founder of Israeli NGO Breaking the Silence, the Hannibal Directive is an Israeli military policy that calls for the use of maximum force in the event of an Israeli soldier being kidnapped.
Under the directive, Shaul said, Israeli forces could open fire without constraints to stop the abduction of an Israeli soldier. Shaul claimed that the use of force was allowed even at the risk of killing the captive soldier.
Furthemore, he explained that apart from firing at the abductors, the directive allowed Israeli forces to fire at roads, highways, junctions, and other pathways that the abductors could take a kidnapped soldier through.
However, the Israeli military has denied any such interpretation of the directive that would allow the killing of fellow troops by Israeli soldiers.
Still, Shaul told Al Jazeera that Israeli soldiers had understood the directive to mean that they could indeed employ force even at the risk of killing their fellow troops that were being taken prisoner.
The directive was reportedly shared with Israeli commanders orally, with no written text of the rules available.
Annyssa Bellal, a lawyer specialising in armed conflicts and international law, told Al Jazeera that the directive was never an official policy. According to Bellal, the full directive was also never published.
Under international law, states must respect their citizen’s right to life, even if they are captured by another state.
The directive was reportedly created in 1986, after three Israeli soldiers were captured by the armed Lebanese group Hezbollah.
While their fellow troops saw a vehicle escaping with the captive Israeli soldiers, they did not open fire. The directive was created to ensure that such an incident never happened again.
The rationale behind this directive is that Israeli authorities believe that a soldier’s abduction gives Israel’s opponents negotiating power and impacts public support for a conflict.
Israeli authorities reportedly revoked the directive in 2016.
According to Israeli newspaper Haaretz, a report by Israel’s state comptroller had recommended that the directive be abolished because of the criticism Israel had received for its use and its various interpretations by army personnel.
What does the UN-backed report say about Hamas?
The Commission noted that during the October 7 attack on Israel, the military wings of Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups, and even Palestinian civilians, deliberately killed, injured, mistreated, and committed sexual and gender-based violence against civilians, including Israeli citizens and foreign nationals. They also took hostages.
“These actions constitute war crimes and violations and abuses of international humanitarian law and international human rights law,” the Commission said.
What does it say about the Israeli military?
The Commission said that Israel had committed war crimes, crimes against humanity and violations of international humanitarian and human rights laws during its military operations in Gaza.
“ISF’s intentional use of heavy weapons with large destructive capacity in densely populated areas constitutes an intentional and direct attack on the civilian population, particularly affecting women and children,” the Commission said. It added that this was confirmed by the mounting number of casualties over months, with “no change in Israeli policies or military strategies”.
For its part, Israel has rejected the findings of the independent Commission.
The deadliest assault in Israel’s history, the October 7 attack saw Hamas and other Palestinian armed groups kill over 1,200 people, mostly civilians, and take some 250 people hostage into Gaza. There are about 120 remaining hostages in Gaza amid fears that a number of them have been killed since they were abducted.
In retaliation, Israel immediately declared war on Hamas and launched a campaign of bombardment, followed by a ground invasion. Israel’s offensive has devastated the Palestinians of Gaza and killed over 37,000 people, mostly women and children.
First Published: Jun 15 2024 | 2:54 PM IST
