Gaza: the record ·
NAZA: Israeli intelligence officers on how Gaza's civilian deaths were approved
In the NAZA documentary, 24 Israeli intelligence officers describe tracking Palestinians to their family homes and signing off, in advance, on how many civilians could die with them.
The film
NAZA is a documentary by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, the Israeli co-directors of the Oscar-winning No Other Land. Produced by The Guardian and executive produced by Jonathan Glazer, it premiered in competition at the Venice Film Festival on 10 September 2026 and won the Special Jury Prize.
Its subjects are 24 Israeli intelligence officers and soldiers, many from the army's most prestigious units. They were filmed at night on Tel Aviv rooftops, with their faces and voices disguised.
A number set in advance
"Naza" is Israeli military slang for collateral damage: the number of civilians who may be killed in a strike. The officers in the film describe that number as something set and approved before the bombs fell.
In 2024, an investigation by +972 Magazine and Local Call, written by Abraham, reported that the army's AI system "Lavender" had marked about 37,000 Palestinians as suspects, and that officers were allowed to kill 15 to 20 civilians for each low-ranking suspect and more than 100 for a senior commander. NAZA puts the people who worked inside that system on camera.
"Where's Daddy?"
One of the film's chapters takes its name from a tracking system that alerted officers when a marked man entered his family home, so that he could be bombed there. Officers describe watching families going about their normal lives before strikes were approved.
One officer followed two sisters to find their father. He was not at home when the strike came. The family was killed.
"Like a video game"
The interviewees describe the work as a routine job done on screens, "like a video game". Several describe themselves as left-wing. "You understand that the objective is to destroy," one says.
The filmmakers' conclusion is direct: the mass killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza was "not a 'tragic byproduct' of a war against Hamas" but "a premeditated, calculated, and intentional act."
The attempt to silence it
Israel's Culture Minister accused the filmmakers of treason. The army's Chief of Staff called the film "an attack on the State of Israel". Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu proposed stripping citizenship from people who "defame IDF soldiers". A crowd gathered outside Rachel Szor's home chanting "Death penalty to the traitors".
Watch NAZA
In cinemas now, and free worldwide on theguardian.com after the cinema run.
