Oscar-winning directors' NAZA reveals secret Israeli military systems behind Gaza killings

A new documentary by Oscar-winning Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor premiered at the Venice International Film Festival on Thursday, revealing testimony from 24 Israeli military and intelligence insiders about secret systems used to identify, track and attack targets in Gaza despite expected civilian deaths.

Titled NAZA, The Guardian-produced film was screened in the main competition at the 83rd Venice International Film Festival and is the only documentary competing for the Golden Lion this year.

The film takes its title from NAZA, a Hebrew military acronym for "collateral damage," used by Israeli intelligence to refer to the number of civilians expected to be killed in an attack.

The 80-minute documentary was produced by The Guardian and James Wilson of JW Films, with Jonathan Glazer serving as an executive producer. Wilson and Glazer previously worked together on the Oscar-winning film The Zone of Interest.

NAZA builds on investigations published between 2023 and 2025 by the Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine, Hebrew-language outlet Local Call and The Guardian.

- AI systems identify targets for attacks at homes

Israeli intelligence officers and soldiers interviewed for the film describe AI-based systems used to identify large numbers of suspected low-ranking Hamas members as potential targets.

According to their testimony, people identified through the systems were bombed in their homes at night despite knowledge that the strikes would also kill members of their families.

The insiders also describe hacking into the phones of people marked for attack to determine their locations.

Intelligence officers covertly listened to conversations between targets and their wives and children, according to the testimony, sometimes until shortly before attacks on their homes.

Speaking at a news conference in Venice, Abraham said the filmmakers asked the officers to explain their work.

"We just told these officers: 'Please describe to us what you did. How do these systems work? Sketch it out for us.' Sometimes, in just asking the questions, you get the answers," he said.

"Some of them did not express remorse and some did. Some spoke out of indifference, some out of pride."

The 24 interviewees spoke anonymously because of the risks associated with publicly discussing Israeli military operations. The interviews were filmed at night on rooftops in Tel Aviv, with their appearances and voices digitally altered to conceal their identities.

- Systematic destruction of civilian areas

The testimony also includes first-hand accounts of the destruction of neighborhoods where the Israeli military estimated that as many as 25% of residents were still in their homes.

The interviewees describe the systematic burning of civilian homes and the killing of civilians at a food distribution site.

Several interviewees worked in a secret intelligence unit that reports directly to the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, according to The Guardian. One of them said the unit's mission was to "thwart peace."

Abraham and Szor said the film focuses on military policies and practices rather than misconduct by individual soldiers.

"Our focus is not on sporadic war crimes committed by rogue soldiers," they said.

Instead, the directors said their focus was on "the orders themselves, the policies, the accepted practices, the language and logic that make those practices possible, and the people who operate within them."

"The system and its cogs," they added.

Abraham described the film as an examination of "systems of mass killing" based on testimony from the 24 insiders.

- Filmmakers say testimonies reveal broader system

In an interview with French daily Le Monde, Abraham said it took months of discussions to persuade some sources to testify, while others refused because they feared reprisals from the Israeli government.

"The film does not talk about individual soldiers who deviate from the protocol. It is not about mistakes, nor sporadic war crimes. It is about the policies themselves, the protocol, everything that was systemic in the assault against Gaza," he said.

He said the filmmakers deliberately sought multiple sources to establish evidence of a broader system.

"We had to mount and structure the film in a way that put this at the forefront," Abraham said.

Asked about his approach to the people who agreed to speak, Abraham said he did not want to judge them.

"I did not want to present myself as some sort of voice of moral justice. First, because that is not true. I think that as Israelis, we are all complicit to some extent in the crimes perpetrated in Gaza," he said.

"The priority for me was not to make them confess, but to know the details of the system that allowed these massacres to take place," he added.

Abraham said the testimonies included accounts of a policy in some areas of Gaza under which civilians could be killed regardless of whether they were armed.

"It is impressive to hear Israeli soldiers admit it in front of the camera. Yes, there is a policy in entire areas of Gaza according to which you kill everyone, every person you see, every person who goes there on foot. None of them is armed," he said.

Szor said the filmmakers also wanted to show the contrast between daily life in Tel Aviv and events in Gaza.

"You can see Tel Aviv as a city that functions as usual, while 60 kilometers (37 miles) away, all these things are happening," she said.

She said traditional Israeli media had failed to fully reveal what was happening in Gaza.

"But I think that, as the film shows, mass surveillance, these occupation systems, the tools that the army used to bomb Gaza after Oct. 7 existed before that. This annihilation is based on systems that we are accustomed to," Szor said.