Israeli Documentary 'NAZA' Exposing AI-Targeting in Gaza Earns 25-Minute Ovation at Venice Film Festival

Israeli filmmakers Rachel Szor and Yuval Abraham arrived for the premiere of NAZA at the 83rd Venice Film Festival, held in Venice, Italy, on September 10, 2026, where their documentary earned a remarkable 25-minute standing ovation.

The 80-minute film, titled NAZA, was directed by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor. The duo previously won an Oscar in 2025 for No Other Land, a documentary focusing on Israeli settler pogroms in the occupied West Bank, which they created alongside Palestinian co-directors Basel Adra and Hamdan Ballal.

Resulting from an investigation spanning nearly three years, the new film relies heavily on testimonies provided by Israeli military and intelligence sources who requested anonymity. Their identities were protected through digitally altered voices and faces, with interviews conducted on Tel Aviv rooftops at night.

“We are letting the soldiers and the officers speak about what they did,” Abraham stated to the AFP news agency, explaining that the primary objective was to detail the mechanics of the killing systems operating in Gaza.

The title NAZA references a Hebrew intelligence euphemism utilized to estimate anticipated civilian casualties in specific airstrikes. Within the documentary, interviewees detail an AI-assisted tool called “Lavender,” which analyzed Gaza's telecommunications infrastructure—including communications, movements, and daily interactions—to pinpoint assassination targets.

“It was done on a mass scale, like a factory,” one interviewee notes in the project, while another participant involved in target identification describes the remote process as resembling a video game and being “insanely fun.”

Additional testimonies address the widespread destruction of civilian homes, violations of humanitarian law, and an overarching culture of hostility toward Palestinians.

“There can be no denying what intelligence personnel knew,” sources in the film state, noting they personally witnessed the targeted homes occupied by families.

Abraham expressed his desire that the documentary would prompt Western governments to withdraw their support from Israel and implement sanctions. Speaking to AFP regarding Israel's international backers, he warned that refusing to act weakens those striving within Israel and Palestine for human rights and political resolutions.

In a joint piece published by +972 Magazine, Abraham and Szor argued that the systematic killing of Palestinian civilians in Gaza is a calculated, intentional act rather than an accidental byproduct of conflict.

Critical reception has been strong, with UK trade publication Screen International calling the film an “urgent, gut-punch,” and The Hollywood Reporter noting it evokes profound outrage, indignity, and disgust toward the current Israeli regime.

The documentary was produced by the UK's Jim Wilson alongside The Guardian, featuring executive producer Jonathan Glazer. This creative team previously collaborated on The Zone of Interest, winner of the 2024 Oscar for best international feature.

According to data from Gaza’s Ministry of Health, the ongoing conflict has resulted in approximately 73,500 Palestinian deaths and 174,500 injuries since October 2023, while foreign journalists remain largely barred from entering Gaza outside of strictly controlled military escorts.

NAZA stands as the sole documentary competing at this year's festival, which concludes on Saturday, following last year's predecessor The Voice of Hind Rajab, which garnered a 23-minute ovation and secured Venice's second prize.