NAZA Directors Detail Film on Israeli Intelligence Targeting

Directors Rachel Szor and Yuval Abraham have released a documentary titled 'NAZA,' which exposes the methods of Israeli intelligence in targeting civilian areas in Gaza. The film is built upon the anonymized testimonies of 24 individuals who worked within Israeli military and intelligence services, describing their roles in developing and utilizing AI-driven tools for identifying and targeting residential buildings. These insiders, who describe themselves as "small cogs" in a larger system, reveal the chilling detachment with which they approached their work, often focusing on technical responsibilities rather than the human cost.

According to the filmmakers, the documentary highlights how these intelligence officers used an AI mapping tool to trawl for phone signals, which then recommended apartment buildings in Gaza for bombing. The film suggests that these actions have indirectly led to thousands of deaths. One source claims that approval was given to target 500 civilian lives (indicated by the acronym NAZA) for the death of a single Hamas member. The Israeli Defense Forces, as depicted in the film, reportedly prefer to target Hamas terrorists in their homes at night, with little regard for whether they live with family or in densely populated neighborhoods.

Szor and Abraham, in interviews discussing the film, emphasize that 'NAZA' is not just about the mass slaughter authorized at high government levels but also about the systemic processes and the individuals who form the "killing chain." The documentary aims to shed light on the psychological and ethical implications for those involved in remote targeting operations. The filmmakers collected testimony from these insiders, some of whom expressed a sense of responsibility for the outcomes of their technical roles, while others maintained a strictly professional distance, viewing themselves as mere technical implementers.

The film's title, 'NAZA,' is explained as an acronym used by the intelligence service to quantify the expected number of civilian casualties in an airstrike on Gaza. This detail underscores the calculated nature of the operations and the normalization of civilian deaths within the intelligence framework. The directors' work seeks to bring to light the human element behind these technologically advanced targeting strategies, prompting reflection on the accountability and moral considerations within modern warfare. The documentary, produced in collaboration with The Guardian, presents a stark portrayal of the human cost of such operations, as articulated by those who were directly involved in executing them.