A new documentary, NAZA, features testimony from 24 Israeli military insiders about secret surveillance and remote-killing systems used during Israel’s war in Gaza. The film was shown at the Venice International Film Festival on Thursday, where it is the only documentary competing for the Golden Lion.
The interviews describe AI-based systems used to identify potential low-ranking Hamas targets, phone hacking to locate them and attacks on their homes at night, with families allegedly known to be inside. The claims are presented through testimony from anonymous participants whose voices and appearances were digitally altered.
What the interviewees describe
The film’s interviewees describe systems that generated large numbers of potential targets and attacks carried out while civilians were still in their homes. One account says Israeli military intelligence hacked phones to locate targets and listened to conversations with their wives and children shortly before attacks.
Other testimony addresses the destruction of neighbourhoods where the military estimated that up to 25% of residents remained in their homes, the systematic burning of civilian houses and the killing of civilians at a food distribution site.
Key points
- The film was directed by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor.
- Interviews were recorded at night on rooftops in Tel Aviv under anonymity conditions.
- The documentary was co-produced by James Wilson and executive produced by Jonathan Glazer.
- NAZA builds on reporting published between 2023 and 2025 by Israeli-Palestinian and Hebrew-language investigative outlets.
A film about policy and systems
The directors said NAZA focuses on orders, policies, accepted practices and the language used to make them possible, rather than on isolated acts by rogue soldiers. Several interviewees worked in a secret intelligence unit reporting directly to the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu; one described its mission as being to “thwart peace.”
The film was made under tight security because of risks to confidential sources. The directors said it brings together testimony from 24 people to examine how military systems operate collectively. The film’s title comes from an Israeli military acronym used euphemistically for civilians expected to be killed in an attack.
The wider war referenced by the film
The factual package says Israeli attacks in Gaza since 2023 have killed more than 73,000 Palestinians and injured more than 174,000. It also says Israeli restrictions on food shipments contributed to a man-made famine last summer, while more than three-quarters of homes were razed or damaged. Read the context: Israeli minister urges killing 30 to 40 Palestinians nightly in Gaza.
The war began after the Hamas-led attacks of 7 October 2023, in which more than 1,200 people were killed and 251 were taken to Gaza. The documentary’s directors said the film connects military intelligence testimony with what a UN commission and leading human rights groups have described as genocide. Related coverage: Military investigation announced more than two years after Gaza child’s death.
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