Tucker Carlson to Max Blumenthal: "They killed the hostages on purpose?"
Tucker CarlsonHost, The Tucker Carlson Show
Interviewing Max Blumenthal, Tucker Carlson asked whether the Hannibal Directive was a real concept and whether Israeli forces killed hostages on purpose, then remarked that it was "so evil."
“Come on. They killed the hostages on purpose?”
Original video
Where this statement fits
Did Israeli forces kill Israelis under the Hannibal Directive on October 7?
On October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attackers struck southern Israel. About 1,200 people were killed in Israel that day and about 250 were taken hostage into Gaza. In July 2024, Haaretz reported that documents and testimony show the Israeli military used the Hannibal procedure, which directs force to stop soldiers from being taken captive, at three army sites that day. The detailed findings of a UN commission of inquiry say Israeli fire likely killed at least 14 Israeli civilians in two incidents. The IDF has said a helicopter likely killed Efrat Katz of Kibbutz Nir Oz and that tank shrapnel highly likely killed one hostage outside a house in Kibbutz Be'eri, and it has defended the decisions of its commanders. Former defense minister Yoav Gallant said in February 2025 that he thinks an order to apply the procedure was given tactically in some places and not in others. The dispute is over whether, and how often, Israeli forces fired on Israeli captives that day, and how many Israelis that fire killed. The record also covers hostages later killed by Israeli fire in Gaza, including three who were shot in Shejaiya in December 2023 after escaping their captors.
Source and context
Original video
About this source
Tucker Carlson's interview with Max Blumenthal on his YouTube show; the exchange about the Hannibal Directive begins about 29 minutes in.
Before the quotation
Blumenthal said he had reported that Israel killed many of its own citizens on October 7 under the Hannibal Directive. Carlson asked: "Is that a real a real concept?" Blumenthal said it had been confirmed by Israel's former defense minister and by a colonel who described a "mass Hannibal," and that a tank crew in Be'eri was ordered to fire into a home where 12 Israelis were held captive.
After the quotation
Blumenthal answered: "They knowingly killed the hostages." Carlson then said it was "so evil." The IDF's July 2024 Be'eri inquiry found that tank shrapnel killed one hostage and that most of the hostages in the house were likely killed by the fighters.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The reference point is Israeli fire on October 7, 2023, under or in the manner of the Hannibal Directive, that put Israeli captives at risk of being killed by Israeli forces. Carlson responds to Blumenthal's account with incredulous questions and then calls it "so evil," without stating his own conclusion about what happened. His judgment depends on the account being true. The closest competing label is Condemned, but his remarks are framed as questions about whether the account is real.
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More from this case
Read the full casePolitiFact says it has not revisited related claims and its Nova video rating stands
PolitiFact
“We have not gone back and looked at related claims, and the rating stands.”Read statement
IDF points to its published October 7 investigations and declines further comment
Israel Defense Forces
“The IDF has published investigations concerning its conduct on October 7th, and beyond that, we will not comment.”Read statement
Michael Starr: under the directive, soldiers fire "at risk to friendlies, not at friendlies"
“The directive is a removal of safeties that come with the use of live fire, as Americans may be familiar with danger close mortar or artillery strikes. Fire is directed at hostiles, not at hostages, but the safety protocols are essentially removed. You are shooting at risk to friendlies, not at friendlies.”Read statement
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The Dispute Index. "Tucker Carlson to Max Blumenthal: "They killed the hostages on purpose?"". First published: 2026-10-07. Last updated: 2026-10-07. https://disputeindex.com/events/5162-interviewing-max-blumenthal-tucker-carlson-asked-whether-the