The Newshound

IDF accuses Venice Prize-winning Gaza documentary 'NAZA' of 'fundamental errors' and manipulative depiction of reality

From the Newshound archive · first published 2 October 2026.

Yuval Abraham (left) and Rachel Szor, whose documentary 'NAZA' won a special jury prize at Venice, are accused by the IDF of presenting a "distorted, misleading, and disingenuous picture" of its Gaza operations.
Yuval Abraham (left) and Rachel Szor, whose documentary 'NAZA' won a special jury prize at Venice, are accused by the IDF of presenting a "distorted, misleading, and disingenuous picture" of its Gaza operations.
Destruction across a Gaza neighbourhood. The IDF denies ever approving a strike anticipating 500 civilian deaths, a central claim in the documentary 'NAZA'.
Destruction across a Gaza neighbourhood. The IDF denies ever approving a strike anticipating 500 civilian deaths, a central claim in the documentary 'NAZA'.

The Israeli military has issued its first detailed rebuttal of 'NAZA', the Venice Special Jury Prize-winning documentary directed by Israelis Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, calling it a "distorted, misleading and disingenuous" account of how the IDF selects and approves strikes in Gaza. The IDF sent a representative to a public screening in Bologna after the filmmakers refused to provide a copy, and published a 10-page response denying the film's central claims. The military said witnesses in the film described only early-stage intelligence work and drew conclusions about the wider targeting process they had no authority or knowledge to make.

The IDF flatly denied ever authorising a strike expected to kill around 500 civilians, as one anonymous whistleblower alleged in the film.

The army also rejected claims that 'Lavender' AI independently selected targets, saying it was an intelligence-analysis database, not an approved strike list.

The filmmakers have stood by their reporting, saying sources' identities were verified and that Guardian editors had access to the underlying material.

MoreThe Jewish ChronicleNAZA used Gaza war evidence from staff not fully qualified to testify, IDF saysjta.orgIn its first detailed response to ‘NAZA’ documentary, IDF claims ‘fundamental errors’ - jta.orgAlgemeiner.com‘Misrepresented and Manipulative Depiction of Reality’: IDF Issues Detailed Response to ‘NAZA’ Documentary - Algemeiner.com
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