The Israeli military on Sunday denied a claim in the new documentary “NAZA” that it had planned and approved a strike in Gaza during the war against Hamas in which 500 civilian deaths were anticipated, calling the allegation “completely false.”
A promotional clip for the film, which examines Israel’s use of artificial intelligence in targeting decisions and its role in civilian deaths, shows a purported Israeli intelligence soldier being asked about the largest number of expected civilian deaths ever approved for a strike in Gaza.
“I don’t know how many were killed, because they never check this, but there was once an approval for 500,” the whistleblower says.
In response to an X post containing the clip, the Israel Defense Forces said it has never planned, approved or carried out such a strike.
“The IDF has never planned, approved, or carried out a strike in Gaza in which 500 civilians or anything near that number were anticipated to be killed,” the military said. “Nor was any credible claim raised throughout the war suggesting that an IDF strike had caused anything near that number of fatalities.”
This is completely false.
The IDF has never planned, approved, or carried out a strike in Gaza in which 500 civilians or anything near that number were anticipated to be killed. Nor was any credible claim raised throughout the war suggesting that an IDF strike had caused
𝗜𝗡𝗦𝗜𝗗𝗘𝗥 𝗕𝗢𝗠𝗕𝗦𝗛𝗘𝗟𝗟 🚨🇮🇱
Ex-Israeli soldiers and intelligence officers BROKE THEIR SILENCE, describing an ICE-COLD SYSTEM where strikes were calculated to kill as many people as possible in Gaza.
Their testimony is now a film at the Venice Film Festival.
The IDF said the film’s directors, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, “couldn’t possibly verify this claim, there is no real supporting evidence, and yet they published it anyway.”
“Additionally, nothing about the interviewee, not his service nor his role can be independently checked and verified,” the military added.
The military on Friday already said it “categorically rejects” allegations made in the film, saying decisions on the selection and approval of strikes were made “by human personnel only … and not by artificial intelligence.”
In its initial response to the film, the IDF also said that “the excerpts cited include claims regarding national and military strategy that are clearly beyond the knowledge of junior-level soldiers,” and that there are “references to situations in which IDF Intelligence Directorate soldiers, who were allegedly interviewed for the film, by definition would not have been involved.”
The 80-minute documentary won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival on Saturday.