Fact Check: Israeli Army Killed their Citizen on October 7?

Yesterday, X witnessed a flurry of activity due to a video allegedly showing an Israeli Air Force operation on the morning of October 7th. The video was primarily circulated by sympathizers of Hamas, suggesting that the Israeli Air Force had inadvertently caused civilian casualties. This content was disseminated extensively by various prominent handles, both verified and unverified, including journalists.

 X handle, Syrian Girl tweeted, “ Israel admits apache helicopters fired on their own civilians running from the Supernova music festival. 

“The pilots realised that there was tremendous difficulty in distinguishing within the occupied outposts and settlements who was a terrorist and who was a soldier or civilian… The rate of fire against the thousands of terrorists was tremendous at first, and only at a certain point did the pilots begin to slow down the attacks and carefully select the targets.”

Iranian Media, Iran observer tweeted, “Israel has admitted that Israeli Apache helicopters opened fire on Israeli civilians fleeing the Supernova music festival on October 7th. The Western media tried hard to blame Hamas for this massacre, but now we know that Israel is willing to kill even its own citizens to create a false narrative”

RT journalist Fiorella Isabel wrote, “ Leaked Footage from Israeli Airforce Shows IDF Apache Helicopter Firing on its OWN Citizens at Supernova Music Festival on October 7th 

“The pilots realised that there was tremendous difficulty in distinguishing within the occupied outposts and settlements who was a terrorist and who was a soldier or civilian.” 

“The rate of fire against the thousands of terrorists was tremendous at first, and only at a certain point did the pilots begin to slow down the attacks and carefully select the targets.”

Additionally, accounts such as Megatron, Ramy Abdul, Rimisha Fatima, and What the Media Hides shared the same video with corresponding assertions.

The viral video has rapidly circulated across Twitter, expanding its reach from casual discussions to podcasts and mainstream media. The central question at the heart of this uproar revolves around whether the Israeli army inadvertently caused the deaths of its own civilians amidst the fog of war. Let’s delve into the truth behind these claims.

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Fact Check

1- Not leaked, but shared

First and foremost, it’s crucial to explicitly establish that the viral video wasn’t leaked;  instead  it was shared by the Israeli defense force. The dissemination of this video took place on two primary platforms: Twitter, via an open-source intelligence handle, and Funker, a military website specializing in video and analysis. Both these reputable sources categorically confirm that the video in question is approximately a month old.

We’ve confirmed that the viral video isn’t leaked or secretive, contrary to the elliptical insinuations by the Hamas sympathizers. Now, our focus shifts to debunking the misleading claim associated with the video.

2-  IDF forces firing at the Gaza border, not near the Nova festival

The occurrences at the Nova festival have been extensively captured in images and videos, documenting the harrowing events. Numerous videos depict the abhorrent actions carried out by Hamas terrorists during the festival, showing the victims’ plight. Additionally, these terrorists boldly showcased their violence, even streaming it live on Facebook, perpetrating massacres of innocent individuals. It’s essential to highlight that amidst this documented evidence, there’s no indication of Israeli forces unleashing an onslaught of attacks during that specific period.

CNN’s report sheds light on the events of the morning of October 7th at the Nova festival. It begins with people joyously immersed in the festival’s atmosphere, only to transition into a scene of panic and fear as they desperately flee for their lives while clinging to hope.

In order to underscore the fact that there was no Israeli aerial counterattack when Hamas terrorists assaulted innocent civilians that morning, I will present several screenshots from videos shared by CNN. These images capture the victims’ frantic attempts to escape the violence.

Furthermore, The Wall Street Journal has also released a documented video depicting how Hamas turned the festival ground into a site of massacre. I have downloaded and shared this video below, allowing us to witness the unbridled rampage carried out by the militants, with no presence of the Israeli military or air force.

Additionally, we will examine snapshots from a Facebook live broadcast by Hamas terrorists who appeared to revel in the suffering of innocent civilians. OSINIT’s technical documentation has preserved these snapshots from the Hamas terrorists’ Facebook live stream on the morning of October 7th. However, amidst these atrocities, there is no indication of an Israeli Air Force attack on them.

Furthermore, footage from the body cameras of reservists who initially reported the tragic events at the festival ground depicts the deceased civilians. However, there’s no indication of an aerial strike in the live-recorded footage. The deceased individuals showed signs of gunshot wounds rather than injuries from a missile attack. This signifies that the assertions made by Hamas supporters are unfounded, as there is no visible evidence of an airstrike at the festival ground.

Therefore, the claims made by Hamas supporters, alleging that the Israeli army killed civilians, cannot possibly hold true. The on-the-ground documentation clearly demonstrates that only Hamas and festival attendees were present. If there was even a shred of truth behind the viral claim, it would have been evident in the documented videos and snapshots. Instead, what we observe are scared Israeli civilians, either brutally harmed or desperately fleeing for their lives, and Hamas terrorists rejoicing in the massacres of young boys and girls.

3- Fabricated Evidence 

Moving on to the final topic, we will deconstruct the false evidence employed by Hamas sympathizers to bolster their argument. They drew from a report in an Israeli publication.

To begin, we will present the statement as quoted by the claimants. Then, we’ll contrast it with the verifiable statement originally published in Hebrew.

Claimants tweeted, “The pilots realised that there was tremendous difficulty in distinguishing within the occupied outposts and settlements who was a terrorist and who was a soldier or civilian… The rate of fire against the thousands of terrorists was tremendous at first, and only at a certain point did the pilots begin to slow down the attacks and carefully select the targets.”

Vs

The original and unfabricated version, “ After the pilots realized that there was tremendous difficulty in distinguishing within the occupied outposts and settlements who was a terrorist and who was a soldier or civilian, a decision was made that the first task of the armed combat helicopters and Zik UAVs was to stop the flow of terrorists and murderous mobs that flocked into Israeli territory through the gaps in the fence. During the day of fighting, 28 combat helicopters fired all the ammunition in their abdomen, in rounds of rearmament. These are hundreds of 30mm cannon shells (the effect of a fragmentation grenade per shell) as well as Hellfire missiles. The rate of fire against the thousands of terrorists was tremendous at first, and only at a certain point did the pilots begin to slow down the attacks and carefully select the targets.”

The distance between the Supernova festival area, Kibbutz Re’im, is approximately 7-8 kilometers. The Gaza Strip lies on the left-hand side of Kibbutz Re’im. Following the Hamas attack, most festivalgoers moved to the east side, which is in the opposite direction of the Gaza Strip. However, some civilians inadvertently headed towards the west side. CNN documented a video showing them being attacked by gunmen and taking cover behind trees while waiting for assistance, around 10 am.

Both the CNN map report and the Israeli publication jointly debunk the claims made by Hamas supporters. The Israeli report stated, “A decision was made that the first task of the armed combat helicopters and Zik UAVs was to stop the flow of terrorists and murderous mobs that flocked into Israeli territory through the gaps in the fence.” This means that the Israeli military’s initial objective was to prevent Hamas militants from breaching the fence and escaping into Gaza territory. Only after this operation were targeted aerial strikes carried out against Hamas militants on the Gaza border who were fleeing from the festival ground.

The claimants deliberately overlooked the article’s key point, which highlighted the pilots’ mission to prevent Hamas terrorists from crossing the fence and entering Gaza. Interestingly, the Gaza Strip is situated at a distance of approximately 7-8 kilometres from the Supernova festival ground. This indicates that the aerial strikes occurred nowhere near the festival area.

In light of the compelling evidence presented, it becomes evident that the Israeli air force did not carry out any aerial strikes in the vicinity of the Nova festival ground. The reality is that an airstrike took place near the Gaza border when Hamas terrorists attempted to escape through the fence following the morning’s tragic events on October 7th.

Hamas supporters and their sympathizers have made concerted efforts to incite discord within the Israeli citizenry and cast unfounded blame on the Israeli army for the events of October 7th. It is imperative not to succumb to such disinformation.

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