PolitiFact – No, this video doesn’t show Israeli military killing people at Oct. 7 concert in Israel

Editor’s note: This story contains references and links to graphic images and videos.

Social media users recently circulated video footage they claimed shows an Israeli helicopter killing Israelis at an Oct. 7 concert in Israel. 

Stew Peters, a far-right radio host and the filmmaker behind the anti-COVID-19 vaccine films “Died Suddenly” and “Watch the Water,” shared the 14-second video clip on X, formerly Twitter. 

“VIDEO PROVES and ISRAEL ADMITS it slaughtered its own people on Oct. 7th,” Peters wrote Nov. 9. “This attack was NOT made by goat herders on paragliders. Footage from Israeli helicopter shows the IDF killing many people at October 7 concert in Israel. IDF helicopters fired on civilians fleeing the PsyTrance Music Festival.”

Other social media users shared Peters’ post, and it was flagged as part of Meta’s efforts to combat false news and misinformation on its News Feed. (Read more about our partnership with Meta, which owns Facebook and Instagram.) We also found this video clip misrepresented on TikTok.

(Screenshot from X)

Peters misleads about what the clip shows. The Israel Defense Forces shared this clip Oct. 9 on X, saying it showed a series of Israeli attacks on Hamas fighters. Hamas fighters attacked concertgoers in Israel on Oct. 7, and more than 200 people were killed, according to Zaka, Israel’s rescue service. 

Asked about his post, Peters referred PolitiFact to a series of news reports — some in Hebrew — that he said document “Israelis killing their own.” The information he sent did not include or appear to mention the video footage he shared on X. 

Peters’ X post linked to an Oct. 30 article from a pro-Palestine media research organization that in turn linked to another Oct. 27 article from The Grayzone, a news organization historically on the political left. The Grayzone story included an embedded X post with the Israeli forces’ video footage, with a caption that said the footage showed Israeli forces “attacking Hamas fighters.” 

We found no evidence to support Peters’ claim that the video clip showed Israeli forces killing people at an Oct. 7 concert in Israel. A group that works to geolocate video footage analyzed the Israel Defense Forces’ video and said it was not filmed at the music festival site.

Where did the video footage originate?

Hamas fighters attacked multiple locations in Israel on Oct. 7, including the Tribe of Nova music festival, where at least 260 people were killed, according to Zaka, Israel’s rescue service. Hamas’ attack at the music festival was documented by victims and journalists and confirmed by global heads of state, including the leaders of France, Germany, Italy, the United Kingdom and the United States.

On Oct. 9, the Israel Defense Forces first posted a video showing this overhead footage on X that, starting at the 2:06 timestamp, shows air strikes followed by clouds of smoke and dust rising; at one point, people are visible before the strike. According to Google’s built-in translation, the Hebrew-language caption read: “Throughout the last day, Air Force planes have been carrying out extensive attacks along the length and breadth of the Gaza Strip, wreaking havoc on Hamas terrorists. In just the last three hours, about 130 targets were attacked using dozens of planes. The focus of the attack: Beit Hanon, Sajaya, Al Furkan and Rimal >>”

An Israeli Defense Forces spokesperson provided a translation that largely matched Google’s. 

We used reverse-image searches, but did not find the video shared online before the Israel Defense Forces’ Oct. 9 post. 

An Israel Defense Forces spokesperson told PolitiFact the video Peters shared matched the video it posted on X and said that it shows Israeli soldiers striking Hamas militants.

(Screenshots from X)

GeoConfirmed, a group that works to geolocate video footage, analyzed the Israel Defense Forces’ video, and concluded it was not filmed at the site of the Nova music festival.  

Our ruling

Peters claimed that video footage “shows the IDF killing many people at October 7 concert in Israel.”

The original video was posted Oct. 9 by Israel Defense Forces, which said it showed the Israeli air force striking Hamas militants following Hamas’ Oct. 7 attacks in Israel. 

We did not find the video being shared online before the Israel Defense Forces’ Oct. 9 post, and a group that works to geolocate video footage analyzed the Israel Defense Forces’ video and said it was not filmed at the music festival site.

We rate this claim False. 

PolitiFact Researcher Caryn Baird contributed to this report.

RELATED: Reports of 260 Israeli music fest deaths aren’t unsubstantiated. Photos, videos document toll