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NAZA Documentary Alleges Systematic Targeting of Palestinian Civilians and Earns Record Venice Ovation

Rooftop interviews that allege AI-assisted target selection have pushed insider claims into broader public and institutional scrutiny.

Overview

  • The film premiered at the Venice Film Festival on Thursday and drew a record 24–25 minute standing ovation from the Sala Grande audience.
  • NAZA compiles secret, anonymized testimony from 24 current and former Israeli soldiers and intelligence officers filmed over roughly three years on Tel Aviv rooftops.
  • Interviewees describe large-scale surveillance, telecom monitoring and an AI-assisted system called “Lavender” that they say helped identify assassination targets in Gaza.
  • The Israel Defense Forces has rejected the film’s core allegation of a policy to deliberately kill civilians and says AI tools are analytic aids that require human review before any strike.
  • Produced with The Guardian and JW Films and executive-produced by Jonathan Glazer, the 80-minute documentary is in competition at Venice and is likely to prompt further journalistic, legal and political scrutiny given the anonymized sourcing and contested casualty figures.