IDF officer recounts ordering tank fire on Be’eri home during hostage standoff on Oct. 7

from Times of Israel Dec 23 2023

An IDF officer has recounted a tough decision he made on October 7 to order a tank to fire two light shells toward a house in Kibbutz Be’eri in which Hamas terrorists had been holding 14 Israelis hostages during the Palestinian terror group’s onslaught — fire that killed at least one Israeli.

Brig. Gen. Barak Hiram tells The New York Times about the complex hostage situation, in which Hamas gunmen were using the hostages as human shields while firing at Israeli troops from inside local resident Pesi Cohen’s home.

Hiram says that around 4 p.m., after a gunman surrendered, a SWAT commander argued that more might follow suit, while he, Hiram, said the hostage situation must be resolved by nightfall.

Shortly thereafter, when the terrorists launched an RPG from the house, Hiram recounts telling the tank commander: “The negotiations are over. Break in, even at the cost of civilian casualties.”

Two light shells — designed to cause reduced damage and casualties — were then fired by the tank. Footage from a police chopper aired on Monday by Channel 12 news showed the tank fire.

Shrapnel from the second shell accidentally killed Adi Dagan, 68, and injured his wife, Hadas Dagan, 70...

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