Israeli documentary NAZA reveals AI targeting and civilian casualty policy in Gaza

An Israeli documentary titled NAZA, directed by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, is screening in French cinemas on October 12 and 13 before a free online release on The Guardian's website in late November. The film features testimony from 24 Israeli soldiers and intelligence officers, with voices and appearances altered, describing how the military used artificial intelligence to target suspected Hamas operatives in Gaza.

According to the witnesses, systems such as Lavender processed vast data sets — including cell phone tracking, facial recognition, and social media connections — to mark up to 37,000 individuals as militants. The military reportedly accepted a 10 percent error rate in this classification. Targeting often occurred in family homes, resulting in high civilian casualties.

“The film constructs a false, misleading and biased narrative that defames the State of Israel and the IDF worldwide.”

The film takes its name from a military acronym used by Israeli intelligence to estimate permissible civilian deaths per strike, referred to as a "NAZA" value. Sources describe a sliding scale where commanders authorized the killing of five to 20 or 25 civilians for lower-level targets, and in at least one case up to 500 civilians for a high-value target.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu demanded an investigation and prosecution of the film's participants on Sunday, accusing them of "serious crimes against the security of Israel" and leaking classified intelligence. His office claimed the documentary constructs a "false, misleading, and biased narrative" that defames the state and the IDF.

The documentary is based on investigations published since 2023 by Yuval Abraham in the Israeli-Palestinian magazine +972 Magazine and the British newspaper The Guardian. It won the Special Jury Prize and received a 25-minute standing ovation at the Venice Film Festival in September.