Colonel Nissim Hazan, who fired the shell at the home of Pessi Cohen in Kibbutz Be'eri, recounted the difficult incident in an interview with Josh Breiner that was held in the center of Rafah.
He stated that the investigation that was held is reliable. "I'm talking about myself. I did my best. It was one incident out of six battles I conducted at Be’eri within thirty hours."
Hazan added: "I'm sure I made a mistake at some point, but I couldn't have done it in any other way. The day of October 7th was a bad event."
He said that "there was no choice. After you see hundreds of bodies and major shooting, you realize that you are in the midst of a very intense battle. There was no choice."
"The whole situation of a tank on the grass inside a kibbutz is surreal," said Hazan and added that he did not know there were hostages in the house.
To be noted that the investigation team of the battle at Kibbutz Be’eri found that the forces operated in an organized order of command during the incident, which included command from a Yamam counter-terror unit, the Shin Bet and IDF, while receiving intelligence and air support in real time.
The investigation shows that in the face of the complex and difficult circumstances that prevailed, the commanders and forces that acted during the incident made professional and responsible decisions, while fully maximizing their negotiation efforts.
In the past nine months, the decision to fire a shell at the house has been criticized. The IDF investigation states that "the firing of the tank towards the area of the house was carried out professionally, by a joint decision of the commanders from all the units, after considering and assessing the situation, and in order to put pressure on the terrorists and save the hostages.”
From the information examined so far, it was determined that, to the best of the understanding of its team members, no civilians inside the building were harmed by the tank shells. This is apart from a specific case outside the building where two civilians were hit by shrapnel. The team stated that it seems that most of the hostages were murdered by the terrorists and that it is necessary to conduct additional tests and examine additional findings, as much as possible.
As for the performance of the senior commanders who were at the site, the investigation team found that they coordinated positions and acted in a professional manner, in the face of a difficult and complex situation.