PolitiFact says it has not revisited related claims and its Nova video rating stands
PolitiFactFact-checking website; Katie Sanders, editor-in-chief, in an email to Dispute Index
PolitiFact editor-in-chief Katie Sanders told Dispute Index that PolitiFact has not gone back to examine related claims about Israeli fire on October 7 and that its November 2023 rating stands. She said the fact check addressed only whether the video Stew Peters posted showed what he said it did, and that a group that geolocates footage found the IDF video was not filmed at the festival site.
“We have not gone back and looked at related claims, and the rating stands.”
Official statement
Where this statement fits
Did Israeli forces kill Israelis under the Hannibal Directive on October 7?
On October 7, 2023, Hamas-led attackers struck southern Israel. About 1,200 people were killed in Israel that day and about 250 were taken hostage into Gaza. In July 2024, Haaretz reported that documents and testimony show the Israeli military used the Hannibal procedure, which directs force to stop soldiers from being taken captive, at three army sites that day. The detailed findings of a UN commission of inquiry say Israeli fire likely killed at least 14 Israeli civilians in two incidents. The IDF has said a helicopter likely killed Efrat Katz of Kibbutz Nir Oz and that tank shrapnel highly likely killed one hostage outside a house in Kibbutz Be'eri, and it has defended the decisions of its commanders. Former defense minister Yoav Gallant said in February 2025 that he thinks an order to apply the procedure was given tactically in some places and not in others. The dispute is over whether, and how often, Israeli forces fired on Israeli captives that day, and how many Israelis that fire killed. The record also covers hostages later killed by Israeli fire in Gaza, including three who were shot in Shejaiya in December 2023 after escaping their captors.
Source and context
Official statement
About this source
Reply from Katie Sanders, editor-in-chief of PolitiFact, to a Dispute Index request for comment on PolitiFact's November 2023 fact check of a video Stew Peters posted. The link goes to her PolitiFact staff page because the reply is not posted there.
Archived copy (opens in a new tab)Before the quotation
Dispute Index asked PolitiFact whether it had reviewed related claims about Israeli fire on October 7 since IDF inquiries found that its own fire killed or likely killed Israeli civilians in some places, and whether its November 2023 rating stands.
After the quotation
She added that the fact check centered on whether the video showed what Peters said it did, that the footage was first shared by the IDF, which said it showed Israeli attacks on Hamas fighters, and that a group that geolocates video footage said it was not filmed at the music festival site.
How this statement is classified
The label describes this statement's response within the context above.
Why this label?
The reference point is Israeli fire on October 7, 2023, under or in the manner of the Hannibal Directive, that put Israeli captives at risk of being killed by Israeli forces. PolitiFact maintains that the video does not show Israeli forces killing festivalgoers and says it has not reviewed broader claims, so we used Challenged the characterization, as for its original fact check. The closest competing label is Explicitly stayed out. It loses because she answers both questions and restates PolitiFact's finding about the video.
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More from this case
Read the full caseIDF points to its published October 7 investigations and declines further comment
Israel Defense Forces
“The IDF has published investigations concerning its conduct on October 7th, and beyond that, we will not comment.”Read statement
Michael Starr: under the directive, soldiers fire "at risk to friendlies, not at friendlies"
“The directive is a removal of safeties that come with the use of live fire, as Americans may be familiar with danger close mortar or artillery strikes. Fire is directed at hostiles, not at hostages, but the safety protocols are essentially removed. You are shooting at risk to friendlies, not at friendlies.”Read statement
Mehdi Hasan says Israel's military should have to answer for its actions on October 7
“A lot of the Israeli families of those killed and abducted want an independent investigation into what happened on Oct. 7, and I agree with them. Hamas clearly killed hundreds of Israelis and committed crimes and abuses, which they should answer for. The Israeli military, however, should also have to answer for its actions on that chaotic and bloody day – and the Hannibal Directive needs to be exposed, once and for all.”Read statement
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The Dispute Index. "PolitiFact says it has not revisited related claims and its Nova video rating stands". First published: 2026-10-08. Last updated: 2026-10-08. https://disputeindex.com/events/5212-politifact-editor-in-chief-katie-sanders-told-dispute