Hamas claimed on Sunday to have taken more than 100 Israeli hostages, including high-ranking army officers. This act marks a significant and dangerous turn in the ongoing struggle between the two sides.
The hostages’ abduction follows a series of incidents that have intensified the long-standing conflict. The secretive but controversial “Hannibal Directive,” a procedure employed by the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to prevent the capture of Israeli soldiers by enemy forces, might be activated as a result.
The Hannibal Directive, introduced in 1986, came into existence after a string of abductions of IDF soldiers in Lebanon and the contentious prisoner exchanges that followed. Its full text has never been disclosed to the public, and until 2003, Israeli military censorship prohibited any discussion of the subject in the press. The directive’s main principle revolved around stopping kidnappings by “all means, even at the price of striking and harming our own forces.”
Over the years, the Hannibal Directive has undergone changes, existing in classified written forms accessible only to high-ranking IDF officials, and oral versions for division commanders and lower levels. In some interpretations, the directive suggested that an IDF soldier was “better dead than abducted.” However, in 2011, IDF chief of staff Benny Gantz clarified that the directive does not permit killing IDF soldiers.
Despite its controversial nature and the drastic measures it authorizes, the Hannibal Directive has not successfully prevented the capture of Israeli soldiers. Among the 11 Israelis involved in the seven reported Hannibal incidents, only one soldier, Gilad Shalit, survived, and in his case, the declaration of Hannibal came too late to influence the events significantly.
This recent abduction of over 100 Israelis, including high-ranking officers, underscores the complexity and urgency of the Israel-Palestine conflict. The incident has thrown the region into deeper turmoil, with concerns growing over the safety of the hostages and the potential repercussions for the already strained peace negotiations.
Rayan Chami
