Jonathan Cook writes in Middle East Eye on the events of October 7th, the latest Al Jazeera documentary debunking the lies of that day, Israel's Hannibal Directive and a credulous western press Corps. #Israel#Gaza#October7th#AlJazeera#OwenJones#HannibalDirective#Hamas
[…] The solution to the heart-wrenching dilemma was to implement the Hannibal Directive without firing a single shot: delay the negotiations, drag your feet, procrastinate, leave them in the tunnels for as long as possible, effectively sentencing them to death.
Israeli society has become more violent and indifferent to the plight of victims and displaced persons. Yossi Klein claims there’s a tendency to see kidnapees as "bargaining chips" and to prefer aggressive military action over negotiating their release. This should stop.
The "Hannibal mindset" of essentially allowing kidnapees to die rather than be released still persists today, as public opinion has shifted against prisoner swaps involving many militants. Klein is accusing #Netanyahu of being willing to "eliminate" protestors and internaly displaced persons "for their own good", and calls on security chiefs to defy such orders.
[cont’d] He of the #HannibalDirective in Be’eri, #BarakHiram, received a reprimand from the Southern Command General for “not going through the proper channels” to authorize the bombing of the al-Asraa university in Gaza
The order was given around the time of the start of Israel's trial at the International Criminal Court in The Hague, which drew international criticism. Hiram claimed there were militants in the building and tunnel openings on the premises.
The #IDF stated that during combat operations in the Gaza Strip, there are clear instructions and guidelines that determine who has the authority to approve the bombing and demolition of certain types of buildings, such as government facilities, hospitals, and other public institutions. The demolition of al-Asraa and the process of approving the bombing will be “thoroughly investigated”.
#Israel / Chief of Staff: The IDF will not lose Brig. Gen. Barak Hiram
After it was exposed recently that Hiram's promotion to Gaza Division commander was in doubt, Lt. Gen. Kochavi said at the General Staff Forum that in his view he is not disqualified from command - and even ordered to expedite the investigation into the tank fire at the Be’eri house on 10/7. The two even met one-on-one in Gaza.
Seems to me that #IDF's decision to consider appointing Hiram as Gaza Division commander, despite his involvement in the deadly "friendly fire" incident on October 7th, shows disregard for the families of those killed that day. Promoting him before properly investigating his unit's actions [the conclusions of which are already decided it seems], only adds insult to injury for grieving families seeking accountability. Rushing this appointment demonstrates poor judgment and a lack of sensitivity to those affected by the tragic losses from IDF fire.
New evidence emerges of Israel killing its own civilians.
'“According to a member of the community security squad, Atun and the soldier got into a fight, and the soldier shot Atun many times, mistaking him for a terrorist,” Haaretz says. “According to Tamar, Ofek was shot dead without any prior struggle.”
Tamar was herself then shot in the stomach by Israeli soldiers, but lived to tell the tale.'
Jonathon Cook
30 January 2024
In waging war on the UN refugee agency, the West is openly siding with Israeli genocide.
Israel has long plotted the downfall of UNRWA, aware that it is one of the biggest obstacles to eradicating the Palestinians as a people.
There is an important background to the decision by the United States and other leading western states, the UK among them, to freeze funding to the United Nations’ Relief and Works Agency (UNRWA), the main channel by which the UN disseminates food and welfare services to the most desperate and destitute Palestinians.
The West’s flimsy pretext for what amounts to a war on UNRWA is that Israel claims 12 local UN staff – out of 13,000 – are implicated in Hamas’ break-out from the open-air prison of Gaza on October 7. The sole evidence appears to be coerced confessions, likely extracted through torture, from Palestinian fighters captured by Israel that day.
*Jonathan Cook is an award-winning British journalist. He was based in Nazareth, Israel, for 20 years. He returned to the UK in 2021.
In 2011 Jonathan was awarded the Martha Gellhorn Special Prize for Journalism. The judges’ citation reads:
“Jonathan Cook’s work on Palestine and Israel, especially his de-coding of official propaganda and his outstanding analysis of events often obfuscated in the mainstream, has made him one of the reliable truth-tellers in the Middle East.”
Jonathon Cook
18th January 2024
Israeli army ‘ethics’ chief says crimes committed by soldiers against Israel’s own civilians are ‘horrifying’. How is this not newsworthy for British journalists?
The Israeli Haaretz newspaper interviewed this week the army’s “ethics” chief, Asa Kasher, of Tel Aviv university, about two major incidents on October 7:
An Israeli commander ordered a tank to fire into a home in Kibbutz Be’eri knowing that there were 14 Israeli civilians inside, incinerating them.
Israeli helicopters fired missiles at dozens of cars with Israeli hostages inside, killing the inhabitants, again often by incinerating them.
In both cases, the official Israeli narrative is that Hamas was responsible for these “barbaric” acts, supposedly justifying the genocide Israel is carrying out – “in response” – against the civilian Palestinian population of Gaza.
Haaretz and Kasher ascribe these “friendly fire” incidents to Israel’s classified “Hannibal directive”, which requires soldiers to stop Israelis being taken hostage at all costs. Kasher thinks – probably wrongly – that the directive was misunderstood and misapplied by commanders on the day.
Is it really the #Israel argument, about #HannibalDirective, that it's because it has "high regards for human life" that it kills people first ? What a logic. Moreover knowing how they really act with hostages (or how they play with #palestinians lives). I think Mearsheimer is ironical but the truth is, I don't know what Israelis could claim otherwise, apart from that hypocrisy, that empty logic, to apply that directive. When it's more a proof (if needed) it shouldn't exist at all.
#haaretz / did Israel break international law using poison gas in the tunnels in Gaza (which allegedly also killed Israeli captives held there)
Haaretz's editorial: Did the #IDF use poison gas in Gaza to kill people in the tunnels? And if it did use such a tactic, is this legal under the laws of war, to which Israel is committed? And if such a tactic was used, who gave the approval for its use?
#haaretz / 'Unlawful, Unethical, Horrifying': IDF Ethics Code Author on Alleged Use of 'Hannibal Directive' During Hamas Attack
Also discussed in this piece unconfirmed indications that captive Israeli civilians were killed on October 7th by IDF helicopters who strafed cars attempting to cross the border.
"This is their [#IDF] approach […] We hear it all the time from the army spokesperson: 'We aren't speaking about it now. The day will come. We will investigate and the results will be publicized to the public.'"
Top Israeli newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth confirms Israel used the "Hannibal directive" on Oct 7th, which calls to kill Israeli hostages along with their captors.
This is the exact quote from the paper:
🔶️ "At noon on October 7th, the IDF ordered all of its combat units in practice to use the 'Hannibal Directive', although without clearly mentioning this explicit name. The order was to stop 'at all costs' any attempt by Hamas terrorists to return to Gaza, that is despite the fear that some of them have hostages.
🔶️ It is estimated that about a thousand terrorists and infiltrators were killed in the area between the Otaf settlements and the Gaza Strip. It is not clear at this time how many of the hostages were killed due to the activation of this command. In the week after the attack, soldiers of elite units checked about 70 vehicles that were left in the area between the Otaf settlements and the Gaza Strip. These are vehicles that did not reach Gaza, because on the way they were shot by a combat helicopter, an anti-tank missile or a tank, and at least in some cases everyone in the vehicle was killed."
Imagine if Russia had slaughtered it's own citizens in order to blame it on Ukraine and the news came out and not a single major media outlet even mentioned it.
The way I see it, most, if now all of the civilian casualties of the October 7 were killed by IDF or during the cross fire between IDF and Hamas fighters.
So Hamas didn't attack Israel to kill Israelis, but to take hostages to use them for future hostage exchange. Does it mean Hamas is innocent or what they did was justified, hell no, but almost everything we have read and hear d about October 7 has proven to be either false, fabricate or modified to cover the role IDF and Israeli police played in the death of the hostages on that day.
Over 30000 Palestinians have died, 2 millions of living in total misery and 10s of thousands of injured by Israeli assault on Gaza with the help of US/UK/Germany and almost all other European countries (except for Ireland) as well as India, Philipines, Australia and Turkey.
Can the ICJ condemn Israel actions in Gaza?
Will the Israelis bring Netanyahu and his criminal gang to justice for what they did on October 7?
Can we prevent such ridiculous lies to be used again to manipulate the people and politicians?
As soon as the October 7 attack happened, I thought of the Attica Uprising, what with Gaza being the world's largest open-air prison. I intuitively figured that, like Attica, Israel and the IDF would be okay killing guards along with the prisoners as it responded. Somehow, I missed over the years that Israel has a semi-secret policy called the Hannibal Directive whereby it's considered preferable that Israelis be killed by the IDF rather than be abducted.
Now, #Haaretz is demanding to know whether the #HannibalDirective was implemented at a house in Kibbutz Be’eri with Hamas fighters and Israeli captives inside.
There were already reports of the IDF firing on hostages as Hamas fighters were bringing them back to Gaza on October 7, as well as multiple hostage deaths caused by the IDF during its war on Gaza, although it's unclear how deliberate or incidental those may have been at this point, to my knowledge at least.
It is clear that Netanyahu and his ultranationalist coalition have not placed a high priority on saving the lives of Israeli hostages. Their own people are merely collateral damage in their lust to eradicate all Palestinians. And that's not even to mention the three shirtless Israelis waving a white flag that IDF soldiers gunned down inside Gaza on December 15, although technically they were free and the IDF just shoots at anything that moves in Gaza.
#hharetz / Families of hostages killed in Be'eri demand a comprehensive investigation - immediately
[...] In the letter, the families demanded "a comprehensive and transparent investigation into the decisions and actions that led to this tragic outcome. In addition, we ask that the findings of the investigation be published first to the families and then also to the public." The families' demand is to conduct the investigation immediately - and not wait for the end of the war: "Given the severity of the incident, we do not think it is right to delay the investigation until the end of the war, whose end is uncertain, but rather to conduct it immediately," the families wrote, "while the memory is still fresh among all those involved, and quickly before the house is demolished in preparation for rebuilding the neighborhood."
[...] 15 hostages - including the 12-year-old twins Liel and Yinai Hazroni, and their aunt Ailos Hazroni who raised them - were gathered that day in the home of Pessi Cohen, which is behind the dining hall in Be'eri. Together with them were several dozen militants, who demanded that army and police forces come to the house and guarantee them safe passage to #Gaza along with the hostages.
[...] Only two of the hostages survived - Be'eri resident Hadass Dagan and Yismin Porat, who had spent the evening with her partner at a party with friends and escaped with him to the kibbutz when the Hamas attack began. According to the testimonies of the two women, a fierce battle broke out between the militants and the Yamam and IDF forces who arrived at the house, with some of the hostages caught in the crossfire.
@notwithstanding Israelis need to be protected from their own army
"Several victims have already decided to publicly comment that the Israeli army fired at them out of control. A police investigation also confirmed that many of the October 7 victims were killed by the IDF"...
Israelis waking up to the reality of their brutal and criminal military and they don't like what they see
Only and only because this time the victims were Israelis
They have killed 100s, if not thousands of palestinians EXACTLY the same way, but no one cared (except a few) because the victims were not worthy of their empathy.
The #IDF estimates 13 soldiers killed in #Gaza were mistakenly identified as #Hamas members, while another 7 died in other operational accidents. Since fighting began, 105 soldiers have been killed in Gaza, including the captive Noa Marziano.
The army has not examined how many civilians killed in the Gaza envelope massacre were hit by forces battling militants, and senior officers estimate the number may never be known.
According to IDF data, 6 soldiers died in weapons accidents, vehicle collisions, or collateral damage from explosions, and 1 from stray fire. In addition, most cases of soldier deaths from IDF fire involved tank and air strikes.
The avoidance of investigating the October 7 events stems from the unusual circumstances that day – intense fighting with militants controlling communities, the surprise element, duration of battles, conditions, and the scenes encountered by soldiers. The IDF estimates the number of incidents will not be examined going forward either.
In total since the war began, around 1,200 civilians have been killed, all but a few from Hezbollah fire, along with 434 soldiers. This week the IDF began reporting the number of soldiers injured since October 7 after refusing to do so previously.
[Gaza War 2008-2009] Is it "justified to kill a Palestinian child who is in the company of a hundred 'terrorists'"?
Background on Asa Kasher (2000 Israel Prize for philosophy) and his involvement in "military ethics" which drew public criticism in #Israel.
[...] The testimonies about the use of phosphorus, about massive bombardment of buildings, about “the neighbor procedure” (using civilians as human shields), about killing “everything that moves”, about the use of all methods to avoid casualties on our side – all these corroborate earlier testimonies about the Gaza War, there can be no reasonable doubt about their authenticity. I learned from the report that the “neighbor procedure” is now called “Johnny procedure”, God knows why Johnny and not Ahmad.
[...] Professor Assa Kasher, the father of the army “Code of Ethics” and one of the most ardent supporters of the Gaza War, asserted in an essay on this subject that a state has the right to go to war only in self-defense, and only if the war constitutes “a last resort”. “All alternative courses” to attain the rightful aim “must have been exhausted”.
[...] The official cause of the war was the launching from the Gaza Strip of rockets against Southern Israeli towns and villages. It goes without saying that it is the duty of the state to defend its citizens against missiles. But had all the means to achieve this aim without war really been exhausted? Kasher answers with a resounding “yes”. His key argument is that “there is no justification for demanding that Israel negotiate directly with a terrorist organization that does not recognize it and denies its very right to exist.”
This does not pass the test of logic. The aim of the negotiations was not supposed to be the recognition by Hamas of the State of Israel and its right to exist (who needs this anyway?) but getting them to stop launching missiles at Israeli citizens. In such negotiations, the other side would understandably have demanded the lifting of the blockade against the population of the Gaza Strip and the opening of the supply passages. It is reasonable to assume that it was possible to reach – with Egyptian help - an agreement that would also have included the exchange of prisoners.
#HannibalDirective / If it was followed [on October 7th], we need to talk about it. Now.
How can it be that the publication of two testimonies [Hadas Dagan, Yasmin Porat] suggesting our forces fired on a house with Israeli hostages does not "shake the earth" ?
[...] From the testimonies of the two sole survivors from the kibbutz Be'eri hostage event, it seems that the #IDF activated the "Hannibal Directive" on the civilians that the #Hamas militants held in one of the homes.
[...] In a report aired over the weekend on Channel 12, it was published that after a few hours in which there was an exchange of gunfire between IDF forces and the militants, including LAW missile (M72) fire, one of the militants emerged while holding hostage Yasmin Porat, and then released her.
[...] According to her testimony, IDF Yamam forces [National Counter-Terrorism Unit] questioned her and heard from her that there were 40 militants and 14 civilian hostages in the home.
"Asa Kasher, who compiled this fascist abomination, the Hannibal Directive, is a war criminal. And "every dog has its day" [in Hebrew of Arabic, كل كلب له يومه, is meant to convey culpability, not success, OM]. This is perhaps the bravest article in this newspaper since October 7th. But we should remember that since the day this state was founded in sin, it disregards the lives of individuals and sanctifies the life of the nation. And there's nothing to be done. What we are currently inflicting in Gaza, a certified genocide, also says that the lives of the kidnapped have no value in our eyes, and all the concern for their wellbeing is eyewash. We are fascists to the core."
[Gaza War 2008-2009] Is it "justified to kill a Palestinian child who is in the company of a hundred 'terrorists'"?
Background on Asa Kasher (2000 "Israel Prize" for philosophy) and his involvement in "military ethics" which drew public criticism in #Israel.
[...] The testimonies about the use of phosphorus, about massive bombardment of buildings, about “the neighbor procedure” (using civilians as human shields), about killing “everything that moves”, about the use of all methods to avoid casualties on our side – all these corroborate earlier testimonies about the Gaza War, there can be no reasonable doubt about their authenticity. I learned from the report that the “neighbor procedure” is now called “Johnny procedure”, God knows why Johnny and not Ahmad.
[...] Professor Assa Kasher, the father of the army “Code of Ethics” and one of the most ardent supporters of the Gaza War, asserted in an essay on this subject that a state has the right to go to war only in self-defense, and only if the war constitutes “a last resort”. “All alternative courses” to attain the rightful aim “must have been exhausted”.
[...] The official cause of the war was the launching from the Gaza Strip of rockets against Southern Israeli towns and villages. It goes without saying that it is the duty of the state to defend its citizens against missiles. But had all the means to achieve this aim without war really been exhausted? Kasher answers with a resounding “yes”. His key argument is that “there is no justification for demanding that Israel negotiate directly with a terrorist organization that does not recognize it and denies its very right to exist.”
[...] This does not pass the test of logic. The aim of the negotiations was not supposed to be the recognition by Hamas of the State of Israel and its right to exist (who needs this anyway?) but getting them to stop launching missiles at Israeli citizens. In such negotiations, the other side would understandably have demanded the lifting of the blockade against the population of the Gaza Strip and the opening of the supply passages. It is reasonable to assume that it was possible to reach – with Egyptian help - an agreement that would also have included the exchange of prisoners.