Israeli military helicopters shot at Hamas militia members as well as civilians taking part in the music festival attacked by the Islamist group on October 7, according to a report by Israeli security forces cited by the Hebrew press this Sunday.
The report is based on the testimonies of Hamas militia members detained on October 7 and reveals that helicopter gunfire struck civilians participating in the Nova Festival, according to Israeli daily Haaretz.
The report also states that Hamas was not aware that the music festival was taking place near Kibbutz Reim, which is very close to the border with the Gaza Strip.
According to the report, the Israeli forces “had difficulty identifying the Hamas militia members” and the pilots used “artillery” that hit civilians.
“Hamas terrorists were instructed to slowly blend into the crowd and not move under any circumstances,” the report said.
“So they tried to fool the air force into believing that those below were Israelis. This deception worked for a while, until the Apache helicopters were freed from all restrictions. The pilots had difficulty distinguishing who was a terrorist and who he was Israeli.” he continues.
The document explains that “realizing this, some decided to use artillery ammunition against the terrorists, without permission from their superiors.”
The daily “Yedioth Aharonot” also reports that Israeli Air Force helicopters intervened in the Hamas attack on October 7, although it does not specify whether they opened fire on Israeli civilians.
Police estimate that 364 people were killed during the festival, but have not released the identities of the victims. The official claim is that Hamas militiamen massacred festival goers.
Source: DN
