Israeli army investigates killing of 12 hostages by tank fire

By Anadolu staff

JERUSALEM (AA) - The Israeli army has launched an investigation into the killing of 12 hostages by a tank fire near the border with the Gaza Strip.

At least 12 hostages held by Hamas fighters were killed when an Israeli tank fired two shells at a house at Be’eri settlement on Oct. 7, according to Israeli media.

Army general Yoav Har-Even, who served as head of the military's Operations Directorate, was named to lead an investigation panel into the killings, Haaretz newspaper reported.

Commander of the army’s 99th Division, Barak Hiram, is expected to be summoned amid suspicions of ordering the shelling that killed the hostages.

“With the fighting in Gaza waning, army officers felt it was time to open an investigation,” Haaretz commented.

Calls have grown in Israel for launching an investigation into the actions of Israeli soldiers during the settlement attack.

According to Haaretz, an investigation will help explain if the “Hannibal Protocol,” which says a dead Israeli is preferable to enemy-held captives, was applied during the settlement attack.

According to Israeli media, the “Hannibal Protocol” is a military directive applied by the Israeli army that governs how field units respond when a soldier is captured by hostile forces.

It stated that the protocol was drafted in 1986 and was canceled in 2016 by a decision of the then-Israeli Army Chief of Staff Gadi Eisenkot, who currently serves as a minister in the Military Ministerial Council.

Hamas is believed to be holding nearly 136 Israeli hostages in the Gaza Strip following its Oct. 7 attack.

Israel has launched air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip since Oct. 7, killing at least 27,585 Palestinians and injuring 66,978 others, according to Gaza’s health authorities, while nearly 1,200 Israelis are believed to have been killed in the Hamas attack.

About 85% of Gazans have been displaced by the Israeli onslaught, while all are food insecure, according to the UN. Hundreds of thousands of people are living without shelter, and ⁠less than half of aid trucks are entering the territory than before the start of the conflict.

*Writing by Ahmed Asmar in Ankara