Hamas did not know about the “Nova” concert in advance, and a helicopter may have injured some of the partygoers

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Israeli media revealed that an assessment by the Israeli security apparatus suggested that Hamas fighters were unaware of the Nova music festival held near Kibbutz Re’im when they infiltrated Israeli territory on October 7 and decided to spontaneously targeting the concert.

According to Haaretz, the assessment is based, among other things, on investigations into arrested Hamas members and a police investigation into the incident, which reveal that Hamas militants intended to infiltrate Re’im and other kibbutzim near the Gaza border.

According to a police source, the investigation also indicates that an Israeli army helicopter gunship arrived at the scene and opened fire on the attackers, apparently also wounding some festival attendees.

According to police, 364 people were killed during the festival. Senior security officials estimate that Hamas discovered the ceremony via drones or parachutes and that the movement’s fighters headed to the site using its own communications system.

Haaretz explained that a video clip from one of the Hamas fighters’ cameras showed a voice asking an Israeli prisoner for directions to Re’im.

The newspaper adds that one of the findings that reinforce this assessment, according to police and other senior security officials, is that the first Hamas fighters arrived at the scene from Route 232, and not from the direction of the border. Furthermore, according to police sources, the concert was originally supposed to take place on Thursday and Friday, with an additional day added on Saturday with a decision taken on Tuesday of the same week, at the request of the organizers.

The last-minute change reinforces the assessment that Hamas was unaware of the event. The newspaper quotes a senior police source: “According to our estimates, this event was attended by around 4,400 people, the vast majority of whom managed to escape after the decision to disperse the event was taken four minutes after the missile attack”.

Police analyzes show that many festivalgoers managed to escape because it was decided to stop the concert half an hour before the shots were heard.

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