Shebaa farms (2000) The Hannibal Directive was invoked in October 2000 after the
Hezbollah capture of three Israeli soldiers in the Israeli-occupied
Shebaa Farms (Har Dov) area. An Israeli border patrol was attacked by a Hezbollah squad with rockets and automatic fire.
St.-Sgt. Adi Avitan, St.-Sgt. Benyamin Avraham and St.-Sgt. Omar Sawaid were captured and brought over the ceasefire line into Lebanon by their captors. When the abduction was discovered, the Northern Command ordered a "Hannibal situation". Israeli attack helicopters fired at 26 moving vehicles in the area since they assumed that the abducted soldiers were transported in one of them. Yossi Rephaeloff, the commanding officer who invoked the Hannibal procedure, was asked if it did not occur to him that by firing at the cars he might also kill the abducted soldiers. He answered that when he saw the jeep, he realized that they were no longer alive. The declaration of Hannibal therefore had few practical consequences.
Ayta ash-Shaab (2006) On 12 July 2006, two Israeli soldiers, Ehud Goldwasser and Eldad Regev, were captured by Hezbollah in an
ambush, in which three other soldiers were killed. The Hannibal directive was invoked and a force consisting of tanks and armored personnel carriers was sent across the border to capture a Hezbollah post and block the exit routes out of the town of
Ayta ash-Sha’b. A
Merkava II main battle tank ran over a powerful explosive charge and was totally destroyed and its four crew killed. The rescue mission was therefore aborted. An eighth IDF soldier was killed trying to retrieve the bodies of the tank crew. The Hannibal directive triggered instant aerial surveillance and airstrikes inside Lebanon to limit Hezbollah's ability to move the soldiers it had seized. "If we had found them, we would have hit them, even if it meant killing the soldiers," a senior Israeli official said. The bodies of the two soldiers were returned in an exchange with Hezbollah in July 2008.
Gaza (2008–09) During the
2008–2009 Gaza war, an unidentified Israeli soldier was shot and injured by a
Hamas fighter during a search of a house in one of the neighbourhoods of Gaza. The Hannibal Directive was declared. The wounded soldiers' comrades evacuated the house due to fears that it was booby-trapped. According to testimony by soldiers who took part in the incident, the house was then shelled to prevent the wounded soldier from being captured alive by Hamas. According to the IDF spokesman, however, the soldier was already dead, killed by terrorist gunfire.
Erez crossing (2009) In 2009, Israeli civilian Yakir Ben-Melech was shot dead by Israeli security guards while trying to enter the
Gaza Strip from Israel, by jumping the fence at the
Erez crossing. He was a mental patient of
Yehuda Abarbanel Mental Health Center, who, according to family members, wanted to contact
Hamas, to secure the release of Israeli captive
Gilad Shalit. According to Shlomo Saban, director of the Erez crossing, several warning shots were fired, after which the man was shot in the leg, an injury that caused extensive loss of blood and eventually led to his death. Reportedly, the Hannibal Directive was declared when Ben-Melech tried to jump the fence and he was shot, not by IDF soldiers but by members of a private security firm, responsible for security at the Erez gate. Former Chief of Staff of the Southern Command, Brig.-Gen. Zvika Fogel said in an interview with
Israeli radio: "We can't afford now any soul mate of Gilad Shalit".
Rafah (2014) During the
2014 Gaza War, the third major offensive launched by Israel in Gaza since 2008, IDF
Givati Brigade Lieutenant Hadar Goldin was captured by Hamas militants after a brief skirmish on August 1, despite the announcement of a 72-hour ceasefire agreement earlier that day.
Forensic Architecture, investigating for
Amnesty International in 2015, concluded that Israel then initiated the Hannibal Directive, ultimately resulting in carnage dubbed "Black Friday." The IDF carried out air and ground attacks on residential areas of
Rafah during the Hannibal Directive attempt to prevent capture of Lt. Goldin. Amnesty and Forensic Architecture concluded that Israel's indiscriminate violence against all human life amounted to war crimes. The massive Israeli bombardment killed between 135 and 200 Palestinian civilians, including 75 children, in the three hours following the suspected capture of the one Israeli soldier.
Haaretz reported this to be the "most devastating" use of the Hannibal Directive to date. In December 2014, audio recordings from the IDF's communication system were obtained by
Ynet. This evidence, in addition to the July 2015 release of full transcripts from the IDF's communication system, reveal the initiation of the Hannibal Directive. However, an IDF investigation denied that the "Hannibal Procedure" was implemented, despite admitting to using the phrase on IDF field radios. The IDF investigation concluded that 41 people were killed, 12 of them Hamas combatants.
Asa Kasher, a winner of the Israel Prize and the author of the IDF's ethical code, disagreed with the IDF's report while speaking at a conference of the
Tzohar Zionist rabbinical organization. Kasher stated that a soldier had been killed during the summer of 2014 by his comrades due to a mistaken understanding of the directive; Kasher intimated that the soldier was Lt. Goldin. Testimonies from IDF soldiers involved in the attack provided further evidence contrary to the official IDF story. An Israeli army infantry officer described the events of August 1 to Israeli NGO
Breaking the Silence as follows: The minute 'Hannibal Directive' is declared on the radio, there are consequences. There's a fire procedure called the 'Hannibal fire procedure' – you fire at every suspicious place that merges with a central route. You don't spare any means. He reported that the initial fire lasted three hours. According to the
Givati Brigade inquiry, more than 2,000 bombs, missiles and shells were fired in Rafah on 1 August 2014, including 1,000 in the three hours following the capture. A second case occurred in a clash between an IDF unit and Hamas forces on July 25, 2014. After St.-Sgt. Guy Levy went missing, the Hannibal procedure was reportedly enacted. It is unknown whether Levy was captured dead or alive, and killed later by IDF fire. According to the IDF, Levy was killed by a Hamas anti-tank missile and his body seized by Hamas.
Shuja'iyya (2014) During the
Battle of Shuja'iyya, on July 20, 2014, Hamas fired an anti-tank missile at an IDF armored personnel carrier carrying seven soldiers, including St.-Sgt.
Oron Shaul. Hamas claimed to have captured an IDF soldier named "Aron Shaul", corroborating its claim with the soldier's "photo ID and credentials". The IDF later stated that the body of Oron Shaul had not been identified among the dead found inside the vehicle. It is unclear if Shaul was captured alive or dead or whether the Hannibal Directive was invoked or not.
Qalandia Camp (2016) Two members of the
Oketz Unit (Special Forces) soldiers entered Qalandiya Refugee Camp by mistake and were confronted by a Palestinian crowd, which began throwing stones and molotov cocktails. The burning jeep was abandoned and the two soldiers got separated in the alleys of the camp. One of them retained his mobile phone, contacted IDF command and was picked up by IDF forces. The second soldier hid in a yard, waiting to be rescued. Meanwhile "Hannibal" was declared and the camp was surrounded by large numbers of IDF forces. After less than an hour the second soldier was found unharmed. So, none of the IDF soldiers were ever captured by Palestinians. One Palestinian was killed in the clashes, while 10 Palestinians and five Israeli soldiers were wounded. The incident was described in 2017 as the last time the Hannibal Directive was officially declared. == Gaza war ==