Israeli newspaper Haaretz: Combat helicopter hit civilians while firing at Hamas militants
In a report citing police sources, Israel's Haaretz newspaper claimed that an Israeli combat helicopter responding to the October 7 Hamas attack also struck civilians at a music festival.
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Haaretz newspaper provided information regarding a security assessment conducted by Israeli security officials concerning the attack launched by Hamas from Gaza on October 7.
Based on interrogation records of Hamas members and the police investigation into the incident, the assessment by senior Israeli security officials stated that Hamas did not have prior knowledge of the music festival held near the Gaza Strip.
The report noted that security officials estimate Hamas learned of the music festival during the attack through drones and paraglider units, and used their communication system to direct them to the area.
According to the report, the police investigation found that most of the festival attendees managed to escape because a decision was made to stop the party half an hour before the first gunshot was heard.
The Haaretz report claimed that the investigation also revealed that an Israeli combat helicopter hit civilians while firing at Hamas militants, including the following statements:
"According to a police source, the investigation also shows that an Israeli military combat helicopter that arrived at the scene and apparently opened fire on the terrorists there also hit some festival participants. According to the police, 364 people were killed at the festival."
YEDIOTH NEWSPAPER HAD ALSO PUBLISHED A SIMILAR REPORT
Israel's Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper had also published a report regarding the moments when Israeli Air Force helicopters intervened in the attack launched by Hamas from Gaza on October 7.
The report regarding the situation the Israeli army faced during the intervention included the following claim:
"Hamas terrorists were instructed to slowly blend into the crowd and not move no matter what. In this way, they tried to make the air force believe that those below were Israelis.
This deception worked for a while until the Apache helicopters had to break free from all restrictions.
When the pilots realized it was difficult to distinguish who was a terrorist and who was an Israeli, around 09:00, some decided to use cannon fire against the terrorists independently, without permission from their superiors."