Claims are circulating that Israel's own military killed some of its citizens during the October 7 attack — explosive if true, and damaging to Israel's account of that day.

• The accusation centers on the Hannibal directive, a policy that lets Israeli forces fire on a situation even when Israelis are about to be taken captive.
• One case described has a tank crew ordered to shell a house holding 12 Israeli captives, killing them knowingly.
• Helicopters are said to have fired on more than 70 cars driving away from the Gaza border, including people fleeing the Nova music festival.
• Gal Abdush, a woman whose death anchored a New York Times investigation into mass rape by Hamas, may instead have been killed in one of those car strikes — her family has denied she was raped.

Outlook: Expect the rape-investigation reporting and Israel's official October 7 narrative to face more public pressure, with no independent inquiry in sight.