Israel-Hamas war: Israeli airstrikes on Gaza kills 13 hostages, says Hamas

Palestinian militant group Hamas has said that at least 13 hostages have been killed by Israeli airstrikes in Gaza.

The Israeli military has been conducting airstrikes in the region after the surprise attack by Hamas which began on Saturday 7 October. During the attack, Hamas said that it had taken more than 100 people hostages, including some from the Supanova music festival.

The group said that foreign nationals were among those 13 hostages killed in the airstrikes. It comes as UK Defence Secretary Grant Shapps told Sky News that British nationals were "very likely" to be among those taken hostage.

He said on the Breakfast programme: “It seems very likely that there are. We don’t have exact data on that for obvious reasons. But within Gaza there will also be Brits or possibly people with dual nationalities as well. The Prime Minister has spoken to the Egyptian president about using that border to get people out.”

It comes as Israel ordered the evacuation of more than one million Palestinians from northern Gaza ahead of an expected ground offensive in the region. The UN has called the order "impossible" to carry out within the 24-hour timeframe.

Israel's retaliation to the Hamas attacks has also seen fuel, food and electricity supply lines into Gaza cut off. At least 1,300 people in Israel were killed during the Hamas attack according to the Israeli government. At least 1,500 people in Gaza have died as a result of airstrikes.