Where does it get its name?
The origins of the directive’s name are disputed, with some sources saying it is named after a Carthaginian general who chose to poison himself instead of falling captive to the Romans in 181 BC.
- Israeli military officials, however, have said that a computer randomly generated the name.
What’s Israel’s Hannibal Directive? A former IDF soldier tells all
The controversial policy to avoid the capture of Israeli soldiers isn’t formally in place now. But echoes persist in the war in Gaza, say some analysts.
The controversial policy to avoid capture of Israeli soldiers isn’t formally in place now. But echoes persist in Gaza.
Yehuda Shaul describes his three years of service with the Israeli military, from 2001 to 2004, as the “most violent period” of the Israeli-Palestinian conflict up to that point.
The second Intifada (2000-2005), or Palestinian uprising, was at its crescendo and then-18-year-old Shaul was an infantry combat soldier; later, he was promoted to commander. The Jerusalem born and bred paratrooper served in the occupied West Bank for two years, and for a third year was stationed at Israel’s border with Lebanon.
The second Intifada (2000-2005), or Palestinian uprising, was at its crescendo and then-18-year-old Shaul was an infantry combat soldier; later, he was promoted to commander. The Jerusalem born and bred paratrooper served in the occupied West Bank for two years, and for a third year was stationed at Israel’s border with Lebanon.
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Now 41, Shaul is a co-founder of the Israeli NGO Breaking the Silence, the first such organisation of Israeli military veterans calling for an end to the Israeli occupation of the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip.
- It was during his time stationed at the border with Lebanon that Shaul was first told about the Hannibal Directive, a former controversial Israeli military policy aimed at preventing the capture of Israeli soldiers by enemy forces – at any cost.
- Israel last invoked it in 2014 during the war on Gaza that year, according to leaked military audio recordings, though the army denied it had used the doctrine.
- Dozens of Palestinians were killed in the Israeli bombardment that followed, sparking accusations of war crimes against the Israeli army.
But to Shaul, the Hannibal Directive made sense as a soldier of war.
So what exactly is it? And is the directive – which Israel is believed to have suspended in 2016 – relevant to Israel’s current bombardment of Gaza that has killed more than 9,000 people?
- The bombing followed the October 7 attack by Hamas on southern Israel in which more than 1,400 people were killed and at least 200 Israelis – including soldiers and civilians – were taken captive.
What is the Hannibal Directive?
The directive, also known as the Hannibal Procedure or Hannibal Protocol, is an Israeli military policy that stipulates the use of maximum force in the event of a soldier being kidnapped, said Shaul.
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