NEW YORK (Dispatches) -- Israel’s former 
military chief acknowledged that Israeli airstrikes killed captives held by Palestinian groups in Gaza, in rare public remarks that contradict the Israeli regime’s longstanding refusal to address such issues. 
Speaking at a conference organized by the Shurat Hadin group in New York, Herzi Halevi claimed military “pressure” on Gaza helped secure the release of captives, but admitted Israeli forces had also killed some of them. 
“Our bombs killed captives. We did not know they were there,” he said.
A total of 251 people were taken captive during the Hamas-led operation in southern Israeli occupied territories on October 7, 2023. 
Most were later returned alive through prisoner exchanges with Hamas. Approximately 87 died in captivity in Gaza or were taken there after having already died, according to official Israeli figures.
Israeli authorities have previously declined to address that military strikes killed captives, instead accusing Hamas of killing them.
Israeli newspaper Maariv reported in October 2025, citing Israeli officials, that many captives had been killed by Israeli strikes, particularly during the early stages of the war. Halevi’s comments mark the first acknowledgment by a senior Israeli military figure that Israeli bombs killed hostages .
On October 7, the Israeli military invoked the Hannibal Directive, a controversial order designed to prevent the capture of Israeli soldiers, even at the risk of killing them. 
According to Israeli media reports, the military applied the directive along the Gaza fence during the first hours of the Hamas-led assault.
Halevi, who resigned as military chief last year, also admitted on Sunday that the October 7 attack “was a failure that could have been prevented.”