Disclaimer: This article contains descriptions of violence and death.
Social media has allowed the world to witness the first livestreamed genocide occuring in Gaza. Directed by Oscar winning Israeli directors, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, NAZA is one of the most important documentaries of our time that illustrates the perspectives of individuals responsible for heinous acts of war. NAZA had its Canadian premiere at the Calgary International Film Festival (CIFF) on September 29 as a surprise late addition to the festival lineup. It was announced by CIFF the day before and tickets sold out in hours.
NAZA is a term coined by Israeli intelligence which means “nezek agavi” or “collateral damage,” the amount of civilians expected to die in a mass scale airstrike. In the film, anonymous Israeli intelligence members sit across from Abraham on rooftops in Tel Aviv, in an interview where audiences can only see the silhouette of each soldier, their voices and appearances digitally altered. Abraham poses questions about NAZA and the technologies used to bomb Gaza and eliminate Hamas after the terrorist attack on Oct. 7 2023, and each subject answers in great detail, some even using blank paper and pencils to map out an illustration of their attack plans.
Revelations about Israel's defensive tactics were raised by The Guardian and Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine since 2023. NAZA investigates the mass killings of Palestinians and how Israel has used artificial intelligence to spy and surveil Palestinian people for decades. The loss of life due to airstrikes has led to the deaths of at least 74,000 Palestinians in the past three years, including 21,000 children.
The soldiers highlight how the systems used to attack Palestinians are violent, logistical and deliberate. The number of NAZA’s or civilian deaths, as large as 500 people, are approved before strikes are carried out for only a single target suspected to be a member of Hamas. AI systems are used to compile intelligence information on targets, and one operation discussed in the film was called ‘Where’s Daddy?’ in which Israeli intelligence tracked text messages of the children of targets to determine when their fathers would be coming home. The phone data would sometimes be misinterpreted by Israeli intelligence, but the soldiers were instructed to bomb entire apartments even if the target had not yet returned home and their children, wife, and other family members were home.
As the unidentified intelligence members speak on rooftops, it cuts to shots of highrise apartments where audiences can see Israeli citizens, through their windows, enjoying their peaceful evening – watching TV, eating dinner, holding hands. Even as the occasional air raid sirens ring, audiences see civilians continue their late-night runs by the waterfront or social gatherings at restaurants and theatres. These visuals are somewhat jarring when juxtaposed to horrific confessions of deliberate bombings and killings.
Videos of Palestinians rushing towards food aid stations went viral on social media where scenes were chaotic and packed with mostly desperate fathers trying to secure food for their families. Intelligence members in the documentary admitted that if any Palestinian went outside their designated boundaries at these food distribution stations, they would be shot on site. What NAZA does not show is any footage of these attacks, the confessions already create images of total carnage in one's mind. NAZA doesn't show much B-roll of anything but archival footage of Israeli intelligence, Palestine before occupation, a newsreel of the creation of the Israeli state in the 1920s and the Nakba of 1948 that displaced Palestinians from their land to further the Israeli state’s independence from British colonial rule. The choice to include a small amount of B-roll was due to the abundance of information shared by up to 24 subjects, and possibly the filmmakers didn’t want to distract audiences from the details. There’s no music, no Hollywood-esque dramatic editing, NAZA is extremely grounded in its approach to address the genocide in Gaza.
There wasn’t much remorse from the subjects about their actions. Some felt bad, others believed they were doing what was necessary to defend Israel. Abraham asked one subject if he believes that Israel is committing a genocide, and the subject quickly responded, “yes”.
The last moment of the documentary is the only time we see or hear from Palestinian’s who are currently suffering in Gaza. It’s shaky cell phone footage of a destroyed neighbourhood after an airstrike and it focuses on a father trying to find his children. He cries out for them, repeatedly shouting their names under pieces of rubble, but no answer. Then we see him break down into tears and anguish, and the camera pans to bodies where we can only see their short legs and colorful children's shoes. All lying side by side, crushed under their apartment building.
When the documentary ended and the credits started to roll, for a moment, there was absolute silence in the cinema – you would have never guessed the place was packed with people. There were sniffles and stifled tears, which were briefly drowned out by an eruption of applause. But applauding felt distasteful, not because it was a poor documentary – NAZA is phenomenal – but because Palestinians have been tirelessly recording the occupation and genocide of their people and it has taken too long for the international community to finally listen and see.
Abraham and Szor won for best documentary at the Oscars for No Other Land (2024), along with Palestinian writer and director Basel Adra who has since faced harassment and violent attacks in his village by Israeli settlers. Due to the release of NAZA, Abraham and Szor have been denounced as traitors to Israel and Israeli Prime Minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has threatened to revoke their Israeli citizenship. Demand to identify the interview subjects has grown by both Israelis who want them prosecuted for harming Israel's security interests and Palestinians who criticize NAZA for shielding war criminals.
In the midst of suffering and the supression of journalists reporting on the genocide in Gaza, NAZA offers a moment of truth straight from the perpetrators who are actively furthering the plight of Palestinians.
NAZA will be available to watch for free online in November 2026.
This article is a part of our Opinions section and does not necessarily reflect the views of the Gauntlet editorial board.
