Venice Film Festival Shaken by Documentary Exposing Gaza War: "Israel Used AI to Kill Civilians"

The documentary film "NAZA," which deals with the mass killings of civilians committed by the Israeli military in the Gaza Strip, Palestine, has heated up the Venice Film Festival.

The British daily The Guardian reported that the documentary "NAZA," which advanced into the competition section of the Venice Film Festival, was screened locally in Venice on the 10th (local time).

The film was co-directed by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor—who won an Oscar last year with "No Other Land," a documentary addressing the reality of Palestinian residents—and is the only documentary listed in this year's Venice competition section.

It contains anonymous testimonies from 24 Israeli intelligence officers and soldiers who were involved in civilian surveillance and remote killings in the Gaza Strip. The film's title, "NAZA," is derived from an acronym used by the Israeli military to refer to civilians expected to be killed during military operations.

The movie details the clandestine operational methods used by the Israeli military in the Gaza Strip.

The Israeli military built and used an artificial intelligence (AI)-based system to identify low-ranking Hamas operatives, which was used to bomb the homes of suspected Hamas members in the middle of the night.

Testimonies also emerged showing that Israel was clearly aware that not only Hamas operatives but also their families could lose their lives in the process.

It also includes testimonies about the destruction of areas still inhabited by civilians and the killing of civilians at humanitarian aid distribution sites.

The film was produced based on exposures made between 2023 and 2025 by the Israeli-Palestinian outlet +972 Magazine, the Hebrew-language outlet Local Call, and The Guardian. To protect sources, its contents were kept strictly confidential until the premiere screening on the 10th.

It took three years to persuade Israeli military officials and others to expose internal information, and the faces and voices of the interviewees were altered to protect their identities.

Director Abraham said during a press conference, "We simply asked you to explain what you did," adding, "Sometimes you can get answers with just simple questions."

He stated that among the interviewees, "some had regrets and some did not," and "several worked in a secret intelligence unit directly under the office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, and one of them said their mission was to obstruct peace."

The two directors, who are of Israeli origin, said, "As filmmakers and journalists, we made this film with a sense of duty to shed light on the perpetrators behind the mass slaughter of Palestinian civilians that our country must be held accountable for."

The US entertainment media outlet Variety reported that "NAZA" received a 25-minute standing ovation after the screening ended.

(Photo: Getty Images)
※ Please note: This article was translated by AI and may contain errors.