The NAZA documentary by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor was screened for audiences at the Venice International Film Festival. The only documentary in the festival competition, it takes its name from an acronym reportedly used by the Israeli army for civilians expected to be killed in an attack.
Produced by the British newspaper The Guardian, the documentary features interviews with Israeli army personnel who were reportedly involved in surveilling Palestinians and killing them remotely. Some interviewees’ voices and images were altered to protect their safety.
Accounts about Gaza in the documentary
Some of the filming for the production took place on rooftops in Tel Aviv at night. The people interviewed in the documentary described secret systems and methods allegedly used by the Israeli army in Gaza.
They described a system designed to target resistance members considered to be of low rank. They said the targets’ locations were determined by hacking their mobile phones and that conversations with their spouses and children were monitored until seconds before the attacks.
According to the interviewees, the attacks involved bombing homes at night despite knowing that the families of the targeted individuals could also be hit. The production also includes accounts that residential areas used by people in Gaza as shelters were deliberately set on fire and that people were killed during food distribution.
Abraham: The system and practices were examined
At a press briefing held before the festival screening, Yuval Abraham said they had asked members of the Israeli army how the system operated and what they had done. According to Abraham, some interviewees expressed regret, while others spoke with indifference or pride.
Abraham said some of the people interviewed for the documentary had served in a secret intelligence unit and reported directly to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. The director also said that one interviewee described their role as disrupting peace.
Abraham said they had interviewed a total of 24 people and that the production did not focus solely on crimes committed by soldiers who had violated the rules. In addition to the orders issued, policies adopted and practices allowed to continue, the documentary examines the discourse and rationale that allegedly made these practices possible.
