Israeli woman freed in prisoner exchange says her mother was killed by Israeli fire

ISTANBUL (AA) – An Israeli woman who was freed in a recent prisoner exchange between Israel and Hamas says her mother was killed and she was wounded when Israeli forces opened fire on the vehicle in which they were abducted.

In an interview that aired on Israel’s Channel 12, the woman recounted being taken by fighters from the Palestinian group’s armed wing the Al-Qassam Brigades in a tractor, which came under Israeli fire.

“My mother, whom I loved so much, was killed. I was injured in my back and my brother was injured in his leg,” she said.

The channel claimed the Israeli army “opened fire to stop the tractor from heading to Gaza.”

Israel’s air and ground attacks on the Gaza Strip have killed nearly 20,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, according to health authorities in the enclave.

The war has left Gaza in ruins, with half of the coastal territory’s housing damaged or destroyed and nearly 2 million people displaced within the densely-populated enclave amid shortages of food and clean water.

– Hannibal Protocol –

Israel’s Hannibal Protocol, which was implemented in 1986 in response to hostage crises, remained confidential for nearly 20 years.

The protocol, aimed at preventing the payment of high prices for hostages, authorized the elimination of hostages and hostage-takers if rescue efforts failed.

The public became aware of the protocol in 2003, when Israeli doctor Avner Shiftan, who was serving as a reserve soldier in Lebanon, revealed it to the Haaretz newspaper.

Reports in the Israeli press on November 19 highlighted Hamas’s attack on Kibbutz Be’eri on October 7, resulting in the deaths of 14 people involved Israeli forces firing tank rounds at the house where the detainees were being held.