Mass civilian casualties were regularly taken into account when the Israeli military made decisions about selecting targets in Gaza, according to a documentary presented yesterday at the Venice Film Festival, which questions official accounts of the war.
"NAZA," directed by Israeli journalists Yuval Abraham and Rakel Shor, takes its title from the Israeli military's term for expected "collateral casualties," and is based on the testimonies of intelligence officers and soldiers who participated in the war.
It was “mass killing on an industrial scale,” says one of the officers in a series of anonymous interviews.
AI systems directed attacks
Health authorities in Gaza say more than 73.000 Palestinians have been killed in the Israeli military campaign, launched after an attack on Israel by Hamas militants in October 2023, in which about 1.200 people were killed.
Israel claims it has made great efforts to avoid civilian casualties and that Hamas is using Gaza civilians as human shields in densely populated areas, which Hamas denies.
The film, however, paints a different picture.
"In our film, we show a targeting system that is designed to target people in civilian areas, in their family homes," Abraham told Reuters. "Sometimes it can be 500 NAZAs... destroying entire villages or entire neighborhoods."
Intelligence officers described an artificial intelligence-backed system that identified targets using data collected from thousands of hacked mobile phones. They said a message saying "Daddy's home" recorded on a child's phone would be enough to trigger an air strike.
The officers also described the killing of civilians in zones designated by Israel as no-go areas, including near aid distribution centers. Residents were not informed of the location of these zones, one officer said: “They have to learn it through blood.”
The United Nations said last year that more than 400 Palestinians were killed while trying to reach aid. Israel has acknowledged that civilians have been killed at aid distribution centers and said it has changed the rules of engagement.
Reflection on the Holocaust
Several officers interviewed compare what they witnessed to historical patterns of dehumanization and speak of parallels with the lessons of the Holocaust.
"That's the connection that the soldiers themselves point to," Abraham said.
"In a situation where the memory of the Holocaust is so often used as a means to justify Israeli actions in Gaza, it is very important to draw a more universal conclusion."
The Israel Defense Forces did not immediately respond to a Reuters request for comment on the documentary.
All the interviews were filmed at night on rooftops in Tel Aviv, while scenes of destruction in Gaza are shown only briefly at the end of the film. The filmmakers said they wanted to highlight the contrast between everyday life in Israel's economic hub and the destruction taking place some 60 kilometers away.
“We wanted to show how life in Tel Aviv continues,” said Shore, who won an Oscar with Abraham last year for the documentary “No Other Land,” about Israel’s demolition of structures in the West Bank.
She added that many Israelis do not feel empathy for Palestinian civilians.
"A large part of Israeli society openly says that there are no innocent people in Gaza."
Many of the officers who appear in the film come from elite units and do not fit the stereotype of ideological hardliners.
"Sometimes they describe themselves as leftists," she said. "And maybe those are the people who are responsible for the most murders."
Abraham expressed doubt that Israel, without external pressure, will bring anyone to justice for civilian casualties.
"I hope there will be justice and accountability for the crimes... That depends on whether those responsible are held accountable and on the political will of the United States and the European Union," he said.
"NAZA" is one of 21 films competing for the Golden Lion at the Venice Film Festival, and the award will be presented on Saturday.
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