Role of Israeli tanks in deaths of Israeli civilians back in spotlight

By Anadolu Staff

ANKARA (AA) – The commander of an Israeli search and rescue team stoked controversy last month while discussing the army's role in the Oct. 7 attack by Hamas, saying that Israeli civilians were killed when army tanks fired at houses to reclaim the agricultural community of Kibbutz Kfar Aza near the Gaza Strip from the Palestinian group.

Anadolu obtained footage of Lt. Col. Golan Vach's statement on Oct. 14 to members of the foreign press in the kibbutz, where clashes occurred between the army and Hamas.

Vach is seen giving a briefing in front of a house that appeared to have suffered heavy damage in the clashes.

He said 19 people died at the scene, noting that two women and two men were found handcuffed in front of the house while 15 people, including eight infants, were discovered dead inside the home.

"This destruction is due to the attack by our tanks. Since these houses were seized by Hamas, we had to reclaim the entire settlement. It wouldn't have been possible without tanks," he said.

- Investigation expected to take considerable amount of time

Asked by an Anadolu reporter on Oct. 23 whether an investigation was being conducted into possible civilian casualties caused by the Israeli army tank fire, Israeli army spokesman Richard Hecht said none was being carried out.

"We are currently focused on the war," he said.

The lack of information from the government on how long the occupation in Gaza will last and when military activities will conclude raises questions about when or how the actions of the army resulting in the deaths of Israeli civilians will be investigated.

"In my view, Israel will have an indefinite and comprehensive security responsibility in the Gaza Strip because we have witnessed the unprecedented scale of Hamas's actions when there is no security responsibility on our part," Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said on Nov. 7.

- Situation in Holit Kibbutz

Speaking to Israel's N12 television, a female Israeli soldier said that when they forcibly entered the Holit Kibbutz, she refused to obey the commander's order to shoot.

"He pointed at me and told me to 'Shoot there. There are terrorists.' I asked him whether there were civilians. 'I do not know, just shoot,' he told me. I decided not to because that was a kibbutz in which Israelis lived. I instead fired with my machine gun towards the house."

The soldier noted that the clashes lasted until 8 p.m. local time "until ensuring the clearance of Holit and the evacuation of civilians."

The male unit commander, speaking on the same television program, reported attacks coming from both inside and outside the kibbutz in Holit.

"You need special training for this weapon system. None of us received any. Within about 10 minutes, we became experts in the system. We operated it, fired it, and resolved its issues," said another female soldier.

It was reported that many Israeli civilians lost their lives as a result of the approximately 17-hour-long attack by tanks.

- Issue of tank fire also brought up in case Israeli child involved

On Nov. 19, Israeli media reported that a 12-year-old girl named Liel Hetzroni was killed in the Oct. 7 clashes between the army and Hamas in Kibbutz Be'eri.

Yasmin Porat, who was being held in the house by Hamas along with Liel and others, said in an interview with Israeli state broadcaster KAN's Haboker Hazeh radio program that the military fired heavily at the house even though there were civilians inside alongside Hamas members.

"I wondered why they were firing at the house with a tank. I asked those around me, 'Why are they shooting?' They told me, 'It's to help clear the house (from Hamas) by firing to break down the walls,'" she said.

Porat said that until two big explosions occurred, Liel was alive, and everyone else in the house had died after the explosions, including Liel.

"If you ask me, I estimate, based on what happened in other houses, she apparently burned completely," she said.

- Israeli fighter pilot says army applied 'Massive Hannibal Protocol'

Israeli fighter pilot Lt. Col. Nof Erez said it was understood at some point that the military implemented the "Hannibal Protocol," which involves taking measures, including the possibility of killing captives, to prevent Israeli civilians from being taken to Gaza as hostages during the Hamas attack on Oct. 7.

"The Hannibal Protocol seems to have been implemented at some point because when you identify a hostage situation, that's Hannibal. However, for the past 20 years, the Hannibal exercises we conducted were related to a single vehicle containing hostages.

"What we see here is a massive Hannibal. There were many openings in the fences, and there were thousands of people in various vehicles, both with hostages and without hostages," Erez told Israel's Haaretz daily.

- Helicopter targeted people indiscriminately, says Haaretz

On Nov. 19, Haaretz provided information on an assessment made by senior Israeli security officials concerning the Oct. 7 attack carried out by Hamas.

According to the assessment, based on interrogation records of Hamas members and a police investigation, Hamas likely lacked advance knowledge of a music festival being held near the Gaza Strip.

The report said that according to the police investigation, many festival attendees managed to escape because a decision was made to halt the event half an hour before the first gunshot was heard.

"According to a police source, the investigation also indicates that an Israeli military helicopter, which arrived at the scene and apparently fired at terrorists present there, also struck some festival participants. According to the police, 364 people were killed at the festival."

- Yedioth Ahronoth also exposes role of helicopter

Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper also reported on the moments when Israeli Air Force helicopters intervened in the attack launched by Hamas on Oct. 7.

"Hamas terrorists received instructions to gradually blend into the crowd and remain motionless at all costs. In doing so, they attempted to deceive the air forces into believing that those below were Israelis," the report said.

"This deception worked for a while until Apache helicopters had to break free from all restrictions. When pilots realized the difficulty of distinguishing between terrorists and Israelis, some decided independently… to use ammunition against the terrorists without obtaining permission from their superiors," it added.

- Israeli censorship of news

The Israeli police on Nov.19 warned national media outlets that reported on the possibility of Israeli civilians being killed during the intervention of Israeli military helicopters in the attack launched by Hamas.

"Especially during this period, we urge the media to demonstrate responsibility in their reporting and to base their news solely on official sources," they said in a statement.

*Writing by Esra Tekin in Istanbul