Newly leaked footage suggests Israel deliberately killed its own citizens on October 7 to avoid hostage negotiations — damning for Netanyahu and his far-right allies as an election nears.

• A news crew filmed Israeli commanders on the morning of October 7 ordering strikes on the Gaza border even where Israelis were being taken captive.
• This is the "Hannibal Directive" — the policy that it is better to kill both the captors and the Israeli hostages than to end up negotiating a prisoner swap.
• Ben Gvir appears in the footage and is heard telling the crew to stop filming and cut the tape.
• Israel officially dropped the doctrine in 2016 as too extreme, but the footage suggests it was used anyway, explaining burnt cars and shelled homes blamed on Hamas.
• The leak lands just before Israeli elections, aimed at Netanyahu's coalition with Ben Gvir and Smotrich, who bear heavy blame for October 7.

Outlook: Expect the tapes to fuel election attacks on Netanyahu, though parts of the Israeli right still back the policy.