Israel used AI to kill thousands of Palestinians in Gaza – documentary

Israeli insiders have described the targeting and profiling of Palestinians as “a video game” and “insanely fun” A new documentary alleging that Israel relied on powerful AI tools to kill thousands in Gaza has sent shockwaves through the Venice Film Festival, with one of the film’s insiders describing planning airstrikes as “insanely fun.” The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has categorically rejected the film’s portrayal, insisting that the whistleblowers cannot be verified.

The 80-minute-long film NAZA, which premiered on Thursday, is built around testimony from 24 anonymized Israeli military and intelligence insiders.

Its title alludes to an Israeli military shorthand for expected “collateral casualties” in an attack.

The film, which was made by two Israeli Oscar-winning filmmakers, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, received a roughly 25-minute standing ovation – the longest on record at the event.

The footage also showed a full audience, with some viewers holding Palestinian flags.

With 25 minutes of Applause, ‘NAZA’ broke the record for the Longest Ovation in the history of the Venice Festival #venicefilmfestival #NoOtherLand #PalestineSolidarity #StandingOvation #venicerecord #longestovation #HistoryMade #yuvalabraham #rachelszor #GazaDocumentary pic.twitter.com/Mr7FORlkt4 — The Cover Story (@Cover_Story63) September 11, 2026 In the film, Israeli insiders claim that the IDF used an AI system known as ‘Lavender’ to identify people for assassination.

The filmmakers’ sources also alleged that the tool operated based on thousands of hacked phones, with even a single phrase, “daddy’s home,” picked up on a child’s phone being enough to launch an attack.

Other sources told the tale of brazen disregard for humanitarian laws, and a “general atmosphere” of “hatred” towards Palestinians.

In one of the most chilling revelations, an insider claimed that at one point a strike on a single Hamas member was approved despite an expected toll of 500 civilians.

“It was done on a mass scale, like a factory” , one source said, with others describing the profiling and targeting as “a video game” and “insanely fun.” Read more Gaza holds one of its largest funerals for victims of single Israeli attack (VIDEO) “We are letting the soldiers and the officers speak about what they did,” Abraham told AFP, saying the filmmakers wanted to document in detail “how the systems of killing in Gaza looked” and operated.

On Friday, the IDF vehemently rejected the allegations, arguing that the identities of the whistleblowers “cannot be verified,” and that it is impossible to establish whether they served in the military at all.