A new documentary by Oscar-winning Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor has premiered at the Venice International Film Festival, revealing testimony from 24 Israeli military and intelligence insiders about secret systems used to identify, track and attack Palestinians in besieged Gaza despite expected civilian fatalities.
Titled NAZA, the Guardian-produced film was screened on Thursday 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."
Systematic destruction of civilian areas
The testimony also includes first-hand accounts of the destruction of neighbourhoods where the Israeli military estimated that as many as 25 percent 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.
Gaza genocide
Since the start of the genocide in October 2023, Israel has killed over 73,000 Palestinians, mostly women and children, and wounded over 174,000 others.
Analysts say the estimate is an underestimate, and the actual death toll could be approximately 200,000.
Israel which occupies 60 percent of Gaza has reduced most of the blockaded enclave to ruins and displaced the entire population.
Despite an agreed ceasefire deal in October 2025, Israel continues to violate it daily, killing at least 1,359 Palestinians and wounding 4,571 others.
