Documentary
Israeli Film ‘NAZA’ Gets 25-Minute Ovation at Venice Over Gaza AI Killing Claims
At the center of the documentary is Lavender, an AI-assisted system that interviewees describe as being used to identify potential assassination targets by analyzing extensive surveillance data. Around 73,500 Palestinians have been killed and 174,500 wounded since the beginning of the war in October 2023. The United Nations cited similar figures.
An Israeli-made documentary examining allegations surrounding Israel’s use of artificial intelligence and surveillance systems during the war in Gaza has triggered a powerful reaction at the Venice Film Festival.
NAZA, directed by Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, received a reported 25-minute standing ovation following its premiere on Thursday. The response is believed to have surpassed the 23-minute ovation received by The Voice of Hind Rajab, another Gaza-focused film screened at Venice last year.
The film is an 80-minute investigation built around testimony from 24 Israeli military and intelligence sources who spoke anonymously. Their identities, faces and voices were concealed to protect them.
‘NAZA’ Explores Israel’s AI-Powered Targeting Systems
Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor spent nearly three years investigating how Israeli military and intelligence systems allegedly operated during the Gaza war.
Speaking to AFP, Abraham said the filmmakers wanted to hear directly from soldiers and officers about the systems used to identify and attack targets.
At the center of the documentary is Lavender, an AI-assisted system that interviewees describe as being used to identify potential assassination targets by analyzing extensive surveillance data.
According to the testimonies presented in the film, information including telephone activity, movements and interactions could be used to identify individuals. Some interviewees compared the process to working inside a factory or playing a video game.
One former participant described the scale of the alleged targeting as industrial, while another said remote operations felt like a video game.
These allegations come from anonymous sources in the NAZA documentary and have not been independently verified in full.
A Disturbing Look Inside Gaza War Operations
The film’s title, NAZA, refers to a Hebrew intelligence euphemism that the filmmakers say indicates the expected number of civilians who could be killed during an airstrike.
The documentary also features allegations about strikes on civilian homes, the destruction of neighborhoods and the treatment of civilians in areas designated as dangerous.
Yuval Abraham told Reuters that the film examines what he described as a targeting system operating in civilian environments, including family homes.
The filmmakers argue that the evidence presented in the documentary challenges the idea that civilian deaths were merely unintended consequences of military operations.
Venice Audience Reacts With 25-Minute Ovation
The extraordinary reaction has immediately turned NAZA into one of the most talked-about documentaries at this year’s Venice Film Festival.
Film publication Screen International described it as an “urgent, gut-punch”, while The Hollywood Reporter reported a reaction marked by outrage and disgust.
Long festival ovations are not an objective measure of a film’s quality, but they can provide an indication of the emotional response generated among audiences and critics. In this case, the 25-minute reception also places NAZA within a growing group of high-profile Gaza-related films that have made an impact at Venice.
Last year’s The Voice of Hind Rajab received a 23-minute standing ovation before winning Venice’s second prize.
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From ‘No Other Land’ to ‘NAZA’
Abraham and Szor previously won the 2025 Academy Award for No Other Land, made with Palestinian filmmakers Basel Adra and Hamdan Ballal. That documentary focused on Palestinian communities and Israeli settler violence in the occupied West Bank.
NAZA continues its focus on the Israeli-Palestinian conflict but moves inside the military and intelligence systems involved in the Gaza war.
Britain’s Jim Wilson produced the documentary, with involvement from The Guardian and executive producer Jonathan Glazer, director of the Oscar-winning The Zone of Interest.
Israel Rejects Claims of Deliberate Civilian Targeting
Israel has denied deliberately targeting civilians in Gaza and has accused Hamas of operating from within densely populated areas. Israeli officials have repeatedly argued that civilian casualties occur during military operations against Hamas.
According to Gaza’s Hamas-run Health Ministry, around 73,500 Palestinians have been killed and 174,500 wounded since the beginning of the war in October 2023. The United Nations cited the figures, although they come from Gaza’s health authorities.
The conflict began after the October 7, 2023, Hamas attack on Israel, which killed 1,219 people, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.
‘NAZA’ Puts AI Warfare Under the Spotlight
Beyond the political controversy, NAZA arrives at a moment when the use of artificial intelligence in warfare is facing growing international scrutiny.
The documentary’s central question is stark: what happens when algorithms become part of deciding who is targeted in war?
For Abraham and Szor, the film is intended not simply as a record of the Gaza conflict but as a challenge to governments supporting Israel.
They have called for greater international pressure, including sanctions, arguing that outside governments can influence the conditions under which the war continues.
With its record-breaking Venice ovation and explosive allegations about AI-assisted warfare, NAZA has already become one of the festival’s most politically charged films—and could reignite a global debate over technology, accountability and civilian life in modern warfare.
