Fresh reports unveil a troubling narrative surrounding the events near the Gaza border on October 7. They suggest that Israeli troops may have resorted to indiscriminate firing into civilian areas, resulting in a number of Israeli deaths.
Regarding the October 7 incident where Hamas reportedly opened fire at Israeli civilians and took many hostages, an Israeli police investigation into the Nova music festival attack has now shed new light on the situation.
According to a Haaretz report, the investigation revealed that an Israeli combat helicopter from the Ramat David base targeted not only Hamas fighters who crossed the border fence from Gaza into Israel but also fired upon attendees at the Nova music festival.
The Israeli military and rescue services had earlier attributed all 260 Israeli casualties at the festival to Hamas and Palestinians.
This is how so many cars at the music festival ended up destroyed. Apache helicopters!
— Syrian Girl 🇸🇾🎗 (@Partisangirl) November 9, 2023
FYI : The IDF collected all the destroyed cars and arranged them one month after the incident pic.twitter.com/sHVL4YIMIT
Eyewitness testimonies compiled by The Grayzone suggest that, in the desperation to contain the surprise incursion, Israeli troops indiscriminately fired on their own citizens using heavy weaponry, potentially resulting in numerous Israeli deaths from what is colloquially referred to as "friendly fire."
These testimonies contradict the Israeli account and highlight the challenges faced by Israeli forces in distinguishing between combatants and civilians during the chaotic situation.
Drone footage from the scene of the music festival shows the damaged cars before they were rearranged by the IDF. pic.twitter.com/qs6F9SZh3S
— Syrian Girl 🇸🇾🎗 (@Partisangirl) November 9, 2023
The report suggests that Hamas fighters may have discovered the Nova music festival by chance, leading to a change in their initial plan to attack nearby settlements.
Further complicating the situation, Tuval Escapa, the security coordinator at Kibbutz Be’eri, told Haaretz,
A report on the Apache squadrons by the Israeli outlet Yedioth Aharanoth noted that
More footage from the Israel Apache helicopters shooting at cars:
— Syrian Girl 🇸🇾🎗 (@Partisangirl) November 9, 2023
“The Apache pilots testify that they fired a huge amount of munitions, emptied the ‘belly of the helicopter’ in minutes, flew to re-arm and returned to the air, again and again. But it didn’t help and they… pic.twitter.com/Op19FdoWiN
As per the Israeli newspaper, the helicopter pilots also admitted that at first they shot at all the cars without knowing which were Hamas and which were civilians.
New footage published by the military shows IAF combat helicopters striking and shooting at Palestinian terrorists infiltrating into Israel on the morning of October 7 pic.twitter.com/hnP1s6GGGa
— Emanuel (Mannie) Fabian (@manniefabian) October 15, 2023
A separate report also detailed instances where Israeli forces attacked their own facilities, such as inside the Erez Crossing to Gaza, in a compelled effort to repel terrorists who had seized control.
The revelation that orders came down from the military’s high command to attack homes and areas inside Israel, even at the cost of Israeli lives, raises questions about the decision-making process and the prioritization of objectives during the intense clashes.
Yasmin Porat, an Israeli civilian who survived a hostage standoff in Be’eri, claimed that Israeli Special Forces "undoubtedly" killed remaining hostages and surrendered Hamas militants using tank shells and frenzied gunfire.
The new reports paint a vivid and distressing picture of the events on October 7 near the Gaza border, suggesting that Israeli forces may have unintentionally caused harm to their own citizens in the chaos of battle.
It is therefore unclear how many of the Israelis who died on 7 October were killed by Hamas, whose fighters were seeking to take as many Israelis, both soldiers and civilians, captive back to Gaza as possible, and how many were killed by Israeli forces refusing to negotiate for the captives’ release.
The narrative challenges the initial portrayal of the incident and raises critical questions about decision-making, intelligence, and the accuracy of casualty figures during this tragic episode.