The documentary NAZA will be released for free on the Guardian’s website in early December, following a global theatrical run that has seen it viewed by more than 1.5 million people across 47 countries.
Directed by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, the film features testimony from 24 Israeli military intelligence officers regarding surveillance and remote killing operations in Gaza.
The film has become a massive commercial and cultural phenomenon, ranking as one of the most-watched documentaries of 2026. While it has seen record-breaking success in European cinemas, it has not yet been screened in Israel, where the creators face legal and political pressure from the government.
The documentary’s global reach
- Massive Audience: Over 1.5 million viewers have seen the film in 47 territories.
- Box Office Success: The film has generated $13.5 million in international gross.
- Streaming Date: A free global release is scheduled for the Guardian’s website in early December.
euronews reported that the film has performed exceptionally well in Italy, where it became the third most-watched documentary of all time in Italian cinemas, trailing only Fahrenheit 9/11 and The March of the Penguins. In France, the film topped the box office during a 48-hour limited release, attracting over 82,000 admissions across 260 theaters.
But the scale of its success is matched by the intensity of the backlash in Israel.
The Guardian reported that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has ordered the attorney general and the head of the Shin Bet security service to identify the film’s confidential sources. “harm to Israel's diplomatic and security interests” Netanyahu has also accused the filmmakers of treason and threatened to strip Abraham and Szor of their citizenship, according to The Guardian, which reported that the prime minister ordered the attorney general and the head of the Shin Bet security service to prosecute sources for causing “harm to Israel's diplomatic and security interests”.
While the Israeli military claimed there were “substantial errors” in the film and that final strike decisions are signed off by officers, the production team countered that they spoke to more than 100 sources with knowledge of the systems used in the war.
“not allow soldiers to be made targets through lies and blood libels” Israeli military's chief of staff Eyal Zamir said, according to the reporting, the military would use every tool at its disposal against the film.
Contrasting claims on civilian impact
The central conflict of the film involves the use of AI-based systems to identify potential Hamas operatives. The documentary alleges that these systems led to bombings in residential areas, often with the knowledge that families would be killed. The title NAZA serves as a euphemism for civilians anticipated to be killed during a military strike, functioning as an Israeli military acronym.
| Metric / Claim | IDF / Official Perspective | Documentary / Source Perspective |
|---|---|---|
| Target Identification | AI is used to help, but final decisions on strikes, and the risk of civilian casualties, were signed off by officers. | Systems utilizing AI were designed to pinpoint numerous possible Hamas operatives, who were subsequently targeted in their nighttime residences via bombing. |
| Casualty Figures | 20,000-plus were actual Hamas terrorists or somehow connected to Hamas. | One of the soldiers in the film says there were many hundreds, if not more, false identifications. |
| Civilian Death Estimates | Official Gaza count provided by the IDF. | The New York Review of Books notes the IDF count is significantly higher than some other estimates. |
The euronews reported that Israeli Culture Minister Miki Zohar equated criticism of Israel’s actions to antisemitism and announced intentions to revoke the citizenship of the directing duo.
Adding to the confusion, a rival project titled NAZA: The Real Story has emerged. The Guardian reported that this project, hosted on nazadocumentary.com, mimics the style of the original documentary and was initially promoted by Israeli embassies. Ariel Averbuch, an Israeli attorney and army reservist who co-created the rival film, described it as an “offensive move” to shift global focus away from allegations regarding the military’s actions in Gaza.
The weight of cinematic prestige
Despite the political storm, the film has dominated the awards circuit. It won the special jury prize at the Venice film festival in September, where it received a 25-minute ovation – a festival record. More recently, in November, it won the best political documentary from the Critics Choice Association.
The creative pedigree behind NAZA is significant. The directors, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, previously co-directed No Other Land, which won the Oscar for best documentary in 2025. NAZA was executive-produced by Jonathan Glazer and co-produced by James Wilson, the same creators responsible for the Oscar-winning The Zone of Interest.
The next major milestone for the film is its digital debut on the Guardian’s website in early December.
