Israeli military video shows copter firing at Hamas militants near Gaza fence | Fact check

Nate Trela, USA TODAY
·3 min read
100

The claim: Video shows Israeli military helicopter attacking Israeli music festival attendees

A Nov. 9 Instagram post (direct link, archive link) shows what appears to be nighttime aerial footage of a military helicopter attacking people on the ground.

“Footage from an Israeli Apache helicopter apparently shows Israeli Occupation Forces targeting Israeli citizens as they fled the Nova rave,” the post reads.

The post was liked more than 300 times in a week.

More from the USA TODAY Fact-Check Team:

Fact check roundup: Israel-Hamas war sparks many misleading claims online. Here's what's true and false.

Our rating: False

The post actually shows footage of Israel Defense Forces in combat with Hamas militants near the border between the Gaza Strip and Israel. It does not show an attack on concertgoers.

Footage shows fighting with Hamas posted in October

The footage in the post was part of a video first shared by the Israeli military on Oct. 9 showing portions of its response to the Oct. 7 surprise attack by Hamas that has sparked a war that has killed thousands in Israel and Gaza.

An Israel Defense Forces spokesperson told USA TODAY in an email that the video shows “IDF soldiers striking Hamas terrorists.” It was taken near the security fence in the Gaza envelope, a stretch of Israel near the Gaza Strip, according to the spokesperson, who declined to be named.

Media coverage of the attack at the concert, also called the Supernova Music Festival in some reports, described armed militants but made no mention of helicopter attacks. A compilation of video from the attack compiled by the BBC also does not show any helicopters but includes footage of Hamas militants shooting concert attendees.

The green video footage in the Instagram post also indicates it was shot at night using infrared technology, but the attack on the concert happened after dawn, during daylight hours.

USA TODAY could find no reports from credible sources that helicopters were part of the attack, much less that Israeli forces attacked Israeli citizens. Media reports in the days after the attack pointed to militants coming into Israel on paragliders, cars, motorcycles and bulldozers.

Fact check: Video of Gaza 'casualties' predates conflict between Israel and Hamas | Fact check

GeoConfirmed, an organization of volunteers specializing in geolocation of videos of conflict, also said the footage showed operations at the security fence. In a series of posts on X, formerly Twitter, the organization noted that the footage showed Hamas militants running toward a breach in the fence, several miles away from the concert site.

USA TODAY reached out to the user who shared the post for comment but did not immediately receive a response.

Check Your Fact also debunked the claim.

Our fact-check sources:

Thank you for supporting our journalism. You can subscribe to our print edition, ad-free app or e-newspaper here.

USA TODAY is a verified signatory of the International Fact-Checking Network, which requires a demonstrated commitment to nonpartisanship, fairness and transparency. Our fact-check work is supported in part by a grant from Meta.

This article originally appeared on USA TODAY: Video shows Israeli military fighting with Hamas | Fact check