At least 13 captured hostages, including foreigners, killed by Israeli airstrikes: Al-Qassam Brigades 

At least 13 hostages captured by Hamas's armed wing, Al-Qassam Brigades,  were killed by the Israeli airstrikes attacking Gaza last night, a statement by the armed group said Friday, 13 October. 

"Foreigners and Israelis were killed by the intense Israeli attacks in northern Gaza and inside Gaza City during the past 24 hours," al-Qassam said in a press statement sent to The New Arab. 
 
Six of the hostages were killed by indiscriminate Israeli airstrikes in the northern Gaza Strip, while seven others were killed in separate attacks by Israel across the Gaza City, according to the statement. 

The Israeli army announced that it attacked about 750 targets last night in the Gaza Strip, including underground tunnels belonging to Hamas, military compounds and sites, homes of officials, weapons depots, and communication rooms, in addition to eliminating activists.

The Israeli army is known to follow a controversial procedure known as the "Hannibal Doctrine" in relation to captured soldiers and civilians. It was introduced in 1986 after the Israeli army experienced a series of captures in Lebanon by resistance groups that forced Israel into prisoner exchanges.

The full text of the doctrine was published in 2003, and an excerpt of the doctrine shared in 2014 by Israeli organisations states, "During a kidnapping, the main task becomes to rescue our soldiers from the abductors, even at the cost of harming or injuring our soldiers."

Israeli bombing has killed 1,537 Palestinians in Gaza, the health ministry in the besieged strip has said, adding that 6,612 had been injured. Among the dead are 500 children.