Israeli troops were ordered to shoot and kill captive Israeli civilians on 7 October 2023, Israel’s then defence minister admitted this week. The order to carry out Israel’s so-called Hannibal Directive was issued “tactically” and “in various places” next to Gaza, Yoav Gallant told Israel’s Channel 12 on Thursday. “In other places it was not given, and that is a problem,” he continued.

Contrary to Gallant’s statement that the Hannibal Directive was unevenly applied in different areas, Israeli newspaper Yediot Ahronot reported in January 2024 that at midday on 7 October, an unambiguous order was given from the high command of the Israeli military to invoke the Hannibal Directive across the entire region.

In July, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported that the order “not a single vehicle can return to Gaza” was issued to the Gaza Division of the Israeli military at 11:22 am that day. But Gallant’s new statement is highly significant, as the first public admission by a contemporary Israeli minister that their troops were ordered to fire on their own people on 7 October.