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The Israeli army has instituted a rule known as the Hannibal Procedure which includes standing orders calling for the bombardment of all possible escape routes preventing the spiriting away of any abducted soldier, even if that endangers the soldier.

The directive is named after Hannibal, the Carthaginian general who poisoned himself rather than be taken prisoner by the Romans.

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The kidnapping provoked a furious response from Israel with increased airstrikes around the Rafah region. Palestinian officials said the strikes killed at least 70 people.

The Israeli military said the heavy shelling in Rafah that followed was part of operational and intelligence activity designed to locate Lt. Goldin.

The soldier’s father, Simha Goldin, a Tel Aviv University professor specializing in Ashkenazi Jewry, said, “We want to support the military in the fighting against Hamas in Gaza. We are sure the military will not stop before it turns over every stone in Gaza and returns Hadar home safe and sound.”

Hamas blamed Israel for breaking the ceasefire and said the tunnel clash had happened before the truce took effect. Moussa Abu Marzouk, deputy head of the group’s political bureau, later claimed it was not holding an Israeli soldier.

The incident drew strong condemnation from the U.S. and UN, who both accepted Israel’s version of events.

Josh Earnest, a White House spokesman, called the abduction “absolutely outrageous” and “a barbaric breach of the ceasefire”. Ban Ki-moon, the UN Secretary General, condemned it “in the strongest terms” and called for the soldier’s immediate release.