It was known by people that read and listen to independent journalists. Good to see main stream media finally talking about this possibility.

Here are some short videos where it is mentioned:

1. Hostage families accuse Israeli army of killing loved ones [06:22 | JAN 30 24 | The Grayzone] https://youtu.be/h9iFiuqkmbE
2. Prof Mearsheimer: IDF killed a ‘good number of Israelis’ on October 7 [01:33 | DEC 18 23 | Middle East Eye] https://youtu.be/iZlQOjq4EvM

The Grayzone's Max Blumenthal and Aaron Mate discuss new allegations by family members of Israelis held in Gaza that the Israeli military is deliberately killing their loved ones in order to prevent a prisoner swap and prolong the war.

Renowned scholar Professor John Mearsheimer recently asserted that on October 7th, it was the Israeli regime, not Hamas, responsible for the deaths of many Israelis. He also delves into their official "Hannibal doctrine," which involves the controversial practice of killing their own people.

This was not the first order given by the division with the intent of foiling kidnapping even at the expense of the lives of the kidnapped, a procedure known in the army as the "Hannibal procedure."

This is the procedure when an enemy invades Israeli territory, upon which a division commander can assume extraordinary authority, including the employment of heavy fire inside Israeli territory, in order to block an enemy raid.

"Everyone was shocked by the number of terrorists who had penetrated the base. Even in our nightmares, we didn't have plans for such an attack. No one had a clue about the number of people kidnapped or where army forces were. There was crazy hysteria, with decisions made without any verified information," he continued.

"Everyone knew by then that such vehicles could be carrying kidnapped civilians or soldiers," a source in Southern Command told Haaretz. "There was no case in which a vehicle carrying kidnapped people was knowingly attacked, but you couldn't really know if there were any such people in a vehicle. I can't say there was a clear instruction, but everyone knew what it meant to not let any vehicles return to Gaza."

Over all the months that have passed, the IDF has refused to say whether this procedure was employed against civilians who had been taken hostage. It now seems that even if the answer is positive, the question may have been only a partial one. The actions of Hiram may have simply been congruent with the way the IDF operated that day.