NAZA Film: Guardian Sources vs IDF Denials over Gaza Targeting
The documentary NAZA details the Israeli military’s targeting policies in Gaza and its alleged acceptance of high civilian casualties. The filmmakers revealed that they spoke to more than 100 sources with knowledge of the military systems used in the war, following an Israel Defense Forces statement seeking to discredit the project.
IDF Claims Film Contains Substantial Errors
In its official release, the IDF asserted that the movie contained “substantial errors,” contending that it drew on conversations with two dozen intelligence and other personnel who possessed only a limited perspective on how targets were approved. At the center of the military’s response was its assertion that its rules of engagement explicitly distinguish between militants and civilians, prohibit deliberately targeting civilians, and require commanders to take steps to minimize civilian harm. While acknowledging that it used artificial intelligence to help recommend potential targets in Gaza, the IDF maintained that final decisions on strikes and the risk of civilian casualties were signed off by officers. The armed forces additionally refuted claims that any strike had ever been sanctioned, planned, or executed with the expectation of causing 500 civilian deaths in order to eliminate just one Hamas target.
Responding to the IDF statement, the Guardian reported further details of how the team verified the allegations through scores of interviews with individuals possessing knowledge of IDF targeting and authorization processes. A spokesperson for the Guardian stated that the 24 participants featured in NAZA were not limited to junior-ranking officers involved only in the early stages of targeting, but included officers and soldiers involved in multiple stages, including intelligence, operations, and final authorization. Secret files that had been leaked, thorough checks of particular operations, and backing from a broader network of off-camera, confidential press contacts all formed part of the verification procedure. Over a three-year period, the production team interviewed more than 100 sources familiar with IDF systems, including senior-ranking commanders directly involved in authorizing strikes.
Israeli Politicians Dismiss Documentary as Directors Face Threats
The IDF statement followed previous efforts by Israeli politicians to dismiss the documentary. The acronym NAZA is euphemistically used by Israeli intelligence to indicate the number of civilians expected to be killed in an airstrike. The film’s release has been accompanied by death threats against directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, alongside calls by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu for them to be stripped of their Israeli citizenship. Critics, including journalists, have previously complained that the film’s military sources were anonymized, despite source protection remaining commonplace and standard ethical practice in media investigations. Expressing complete confidence in the documentary, the Guardian pointed out that media outlets of high repute—namely the New York Times, Washington Post, and Associated Press—have since corroborated the military’s deployment of artificial intelligence tools during the Gaza campaign alongside the relaxation of protections for non-combatants.
Leaked military casualty evaluations, the 2024 UN commission of inquiry findings, and studies by non-governmental organizations like Action on Armed Violence have all cast doubt on Netanyahu’s assertion that Israeli tactical protections have resulted in one of the minimum possible civilian-to-combatant casualty rates seen in contemporary conflicts.