Israel Police slams ‘Haaretz’ claim IDF helicopter may have harmed civilians on Oct. 7

The Israel Police issues a statement reacting to a claim in Haaretz that an IDF helicopter that arrived at the site of the Supernova festival near Re’im on October 7 may have killed some Israeli civilians.

The Haaretz article in Hebrew cites an unnamed Israel Police official saying that its investigation of the incident found that an IDF helicopter at the site that was firing at terrorists “apparently harmed a few partygoers who were in the area.”

A police statement says that its investigation focused only and solely on police activity, and not any IDF activity, and therefore did not provide “any indication about the harm of civilians due to aerial activity there.”

The statement calls on news outlets to “take responsibility for their publications and only base stories on official sources.”

Elements of the Haaretz article were taken widely out of context on social media and used to blame Israel for hundreds of civilian deaths on October 7, none of which has any basis in fact and in extensive reporting about the massacre.