The Israeli Haaretz newspaper revealed that the IOF had earlier recovered three captives: soldiers Ron Shireman and Nick Baizer, as well as the settler Eliya Tolidano, from a tunnel in Jabalia in the northern Gaza Strip. 

Their deaths raised concern in Israeli public opinion, described by Haaretz as "difficult and troubling, requiring clarification and public disclosure."

Maayan Shireman, an Israeli settler, who happens to be the mother of the killed Israeli soldier Ron Shireman, accused the IOF in a Facebook post of killing her son with poisonous gas pumped into the tunnel.

"My son was indeed killed, but not by Hamas, not in accidental gunfire, not in friendly fire; he was killed with premeditation and determination through pumping poisonous gases into the tunnel," she wrote.

Hannibal directive

She explained that her son's fingers "were found smashed, possibly due to his desperate attempts to escape the gas-filled grave."

"Ron was captured due to criminal negligence of all the relevant military and corrupt government officials who ordered his elimination to settle scores with Hamas," she added, referring to the IOF's Hannibal Directive which was rumored to have been employed since day one (the Hannibal Directive entails that a dead soldier is better than a captured soldier). 

According to Haaretz, the IOF spokesperson responded to Shireman's accusations with "evasion," and his response was considered a "dodge" aimed at "silencing the discussion and casting doubt on the family's statements without directly denying them."

According to the spokesperson, "It was not possible to determine the cause of death for the three prisoners, and at this stage, it cannot be ruled out or confirmed that they were killed due to suffocation, strangulation, poisoning, the consequences of an Israeli army attack, or a Hamas operation."

Read more: Gaza officials: IOF destroyed 1k mosques, dozens of cemeteries

Haaretz slammed this backhanded justification by the IOF spokesperson as being unacceptable.

The newspaper asked, "Did the Israeli army use poisonous gases in the Gaza Strip to kill those in the tunnels? Did the army consider the lives of the prisoners at all when deciding how to deal with the tunnels, or was the only consideration in this matter the operational need to strike Hamas elements?"

'Israel' implemented 'mass Hannibal' on October 7

Back in October, with the onset of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, an Israeli Occupation Forces pilot hypothesized that the Hannibal directive was implemented on October 7. Lt. Col. Nof Erez, in an interview with Haaretz, pointed out the potential use of the directive by the IOF on October 7.

“The Hannibal Protocol, for which we have been conducting drills for the past 20 years, concerns a single vehicle with hostages in it. You know which part of the fence it goes through, which way on the road it heads to, and even which route it takes,” he said. 

“What we’ve seen here is a mass Hannibal. There were many gaps in the fences. There were thousands of people in many different vehicles, both with and without hostages,” he added.

IOF killed Nova party attendees, Hamas was unaware of event: Israeli probe

Furthermore, Israeli media reported that an internal security assessment found that Israeli helicopters that arrived at the party site during the October 7 operation killed a number of party-goers.

The Israeli security establishment's assessment regarding the events on October 7 was that Palestinian Resistance fighters were unaware of the Nova festival in Kibbutz "Re'im" and only learned about it after gliders reached the area and drones were airborne, Haaretz reported on November 19.

Read more: Israeli strikes continue on Gaza hospitals, universities and homes

The Israeli newspaper said the Israeli police investigation into the incident found that the Palestinian Resistance had planned to reach Kibbutz "Re'im" and other kibbutzes during Operation Al-Aqsa Flood but discovered the party during the infiltration itself.

It is worth noting that Israeli media reports have lately suggested that they may face restrictions on news reporting, especially those related to the deliberations of the Israeli cabinet during the ongoing aggression on Gaza and the war with the Palestinian Resistance.