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

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.

During the entire hostage situation, which included intense fighting between the Hamas gunmen and IDF forces, all the terrorists were killed, along with 12 of the 14 Israeli hostages.

Hadas Dagan was one of the only two survivors, alongside Yasmin Porat, 44.

Dagan and her husband, who were residents of Be’eri, had earlier in the day given refuge to Porat and her partner, Tal Katz, who had both escaped the Hamas massacre at the Supernova rave near Re’im, where over 360 people were murdered and others kidnapped. Terrorists then broke into the home and took the four to Pesi Cohen’s home along with the rest of the hostages.

Dagan has recounted the harrowing incident in several interviews since October.

Today, the IDF responds to Hiram’s acknowledgment by praising the IDF commander and telling Channel 12: “The IDF will carry out a detailed and thorough investigation to completely clarify the details of what happened as soon as the operational situation enables this, and will publish its conclusions for the public.”