On 7 October 2023, Israel itself killed her own people.

Israel’s former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, admitted that Israeli troops were ordered to invoke the “Hannibal Directive” on 7 October 2023, leading to significant Israeli casualties. With “hundreds” reportedly killed by Israeli forces. His admission raises questions about the justification of the subsequent Gaza offensive. 

The Hannibal Directive, also translated as Hannibal Procedure or Hannibal Protocol, is the name of a controversial procedure used by Israel Defense Forces (IDF) to prevent the capture of Israeli soldiers by enemy forces. It means that a dead Israeli is worth more than a captured Israeli.

The fallout from 7 October 2023 is now further complicated by these revelations that a significant number of Israeli deaths were caused by Israeli forces themselves.

While 1,139 individuals [official Israeli statements to this day refer to 1,200] in Israel were killed during the 7 October 2023 Hamas raid on Israel, it is now clear that many hundreds of these Israeli deaths were caused by Israel’s Defense Forces (IDF) themselves, not by Hamas. 

Investigations by independent journalists and international bodies suggest that at least ‘hundreds’ of the Israeli deaths were the result of the Hannibal Directive, nullifying the justification for the Israeli Gaza offensive. See this and this.

This Hamas attack was well-planned years ahead by Israel’s Mossad in combination with the secret services of the UK, MI6, and the US, CIA. Remember, Hamas itself is an original creation by the secret services of Israel, UK, and US. Therefore, Israel was not only aware of the attack to occur on 7 October 2023, they triggered it and knew the time when it was to occur. According to Israeli border guards, they were ordered to abandon their duties for about seven hours, beginning in the early morning of 7 October.

With this admission of Yoav Gallant, it is clear the Hamas attack was what you might call a “False Flag”, planted by Israel, giving them a pretext to start the genocidal ethnic cleansing in Gaza for the reasons that we now have confirmed by President Trump’s statement that the US would take over Gaza, rebuild it into a resort strip and that the remaining Gazan citizens – some 1.6 to 1.8 million should be resettled in Egypt, Jordan and Europe for a “better life” – free of the risk of being killed in a war. Trump’s words. 

This latter part of Trump’s statement more than insinuated that if they refused to leave Gaza, the war, the atrocious mass killing, would continue.

What Trump did not say is that the US takeover would effectively give the US (possibly shared with Israel) access to the probably trillions of dollars-worth of gas reserves offshore of Gaza. 

The overall goal is achieving Greater Israel in the shortest time possible. See also this.

The admission statement by Israel’s former defense minister, Yoav Gallant, was the first public acknowledgment by a senior official of the Hannibal Directive’s application to both soldiers and civilians. Fire from Israeli helicopters, drones, and tanks targeted fleeing vehicles, including those containing Israeli civilians.

One of the most tragic incidents took place at the Supernova music festival (close to the border with Gaza), where helicopters fired on attendees, creating confusion and panic. At least 364 people were killed at the festival. Several survivors of the festival later testified that they witnessed how Israeli helicopters were shooting at the festival. 

This revelation annuls the justification of Israel’s military offensive on Gaza, which has resulted in 60,000 to 70,000 of Palestinian deaths, plus hundreds of thousand seriously insured and maimed people. These are official figures. But unofficial estimates by Palestinian Health Authorities and international organizations put the figure of killed Palestinians at 120,000 to 150,000.

Over 90% of all Gaza housing and infrastructure – hospitals, school, roads, markets, community centers — was destroyed at the time when the current ceasefire began on 19 January 2025. 

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Under these circumstances, President Trump’s, hand-in-hand with Netanyahu, announcement of the US taking over Gaza – as in taking over Greenland, Canada and the Panama Canal – is an absurd whitewash of the Zionist-Israeli genocide. Let’s not forget, Trump converted to Judaism in 2017. He is one of theirs. In Netanyahu’s words, He is the best friend we have ever had in the White House.

This US takeover talk may be a deviation maneuver for the establishment of Greater Israel, the quick advancement of the construction of the Ben-Gurion Canal to replace, or marginalize the Suez Canal, depriving Egypt of a major source of income, and giving Israel access and /or ownership of a large proportion, if not most, of the Middle-Eastern hydrocarbons.

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When President Trump talked to the King of Jordan, Abdullah II bin Al-Hussein, and the President of Egypt, Abdel Fattah el-Sisi, about absorbing partly the forced exodus of remaining Gazan Palestinians, the answer was a resounding NO. The same echo came from Europe. Of course, Trump may think he can eventually bully every country leader into doing his bidding with “sanctions”, i.e. a Trump-style tariff war or worse.

Mr. Trump may have thought Saudi Arabia, a fond client and friend of the US, whom he recently praised for purchasing US$ 600 billion to a trillion-worth of goods, mostly military equipment, from the US, would be in his pocket, so to speak, and support his takeover plans. 

He was dead-wrong. Granted, so far, Palestine, especially Gaza, got little support from her Moslem brothers in the Middle East, including from Riyadh. However, in a recent interview with Ms. Amanpour of Amanpour & Company Television Program, Mohammed bin Salman (MBS), the de facto leader of Saudi Arabia, devastated Trump’s takeover proposal. See this and in particular the interview video-clip by Ms. Amanpour (video-clip 2:58 min).

In addition to reshape the Middle East military balance, The Times of India (TOI) reports that Russian warplanes Sukhoi-35 ‘Super Flanker” latest state of the art fighter jets arrived in Iran. This Putin-supported purchase may add a layer or two to the current tension in the Middle East, and maybe help dwarf Trump’s grandiose plans to annex Gaza to his hegemon image of expansion. See video below.

Relevant update (12 February 2025):

Today, Presidents Trump and Putin had their first official telephone conversation, initiated by Trump. It lasted about one and a half hours, and primarily focused on the Ukraine-Russia war and the peace-making process, for which negotiations will start immediately. Both countries have prepared negotiation teams. President Trump also talked to Ukraine President Zelenskyy, who reportedly says he wants Peace. See this.

Other subjects were discussed, but it is not clear whether Trump’s Gaza expansion fantasies were part of the conversation.  

What did emerge, however, is that both Presidents will meet soon and most likely will meet several times in the coming months. Trump tentatively proposed as the first meeting place Saudi Arabia(!).

In these future discussions between Trump and Putin, a grander picture may emerge – after the Peace negotiations are completed; namely talks of a new Tripartite World Order. The world would be divided into three poles, the Americas (US); Russia, Europe, and Central Asia (Russia), and East Asia and Pacific (China).

See this interesting projection by Alex Krainer (a 5-minute read).

For sure, not all is said and done yet. This year of chaos and confusion, 2025, is just beginning. Gaza and her off-shore gas fields may remain a mere Trump dream, perhaps a bargaining chip for other acquisitions the self-styled emperor Trump, might want to obtain. But now it seems unlikely that the Middle East brothers of Palestine will allow Gaza and her riches being stolen.

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Peter Koenig is a geopolitical analyst and a former Senior Economist at the World Bank and the World Health Organization (WHO), where he worked for over 30 years around the world. He is the author of Implosion – An Economic Thriller about War, Environmental Destruction and Corporate Greed; and co-author of Cynthia McKinney’s book “When China Sneezes: From the Coronavirus Lockdown to the Global Politico-Economic Crisis” (Clarity Press – November 1, 2020).

Peter is a Research Associate of the Centre for Research on Globalization (CRG). He is also a non-resident Senior Fellow of the Chongyang Institute of Renmin University, Beijing.

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