Israeli insiders have described the targeting and profiling of Palestinians as \u201ca video game\u201d and \u201cinsanely fun\u201d<\/p>\n
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\u2019s insiders describing planning airstrikes as \u201cinsanely fun.\u201d The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has categorically rejected the film\u2019s portrayal, insisting that the whistleblowers cannot be verified.
\nThe 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 \u201ccollateral casualties\u201d in an attack.
\nThe film, which was made by two Israeli Oscar-winning filmmakers, Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, received a roughly 25-minute standing ovation \u2013 the longest on record at the event. The footage also showed a full audience, with some viewers holding Palestinian flags.<\/p>\n
With 25 minutes of Applause, \u2018NAZA\u2019 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\u2014 The Cover Story (@Cover_Story63) September 11, 2026 <\/p>\n
In the film, Israeli insiders claim that the IDF used an AI system known as \u2018Lavender\u2019 to identify people for assassination. The filmmakers\u2019 sources also alleged that the tool operated based on thousands of hacked phones, with even a single phrase, \u201cdaddy\u2019s home,\u201d picked up on a child\u2019s phone being enough to launch an attack.
\nOther sources told the tale of brazen disregard for humanitarian laws, and a \u201cgeneral atmosphere\u201d of \u201chatred\u201d 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.
\n\u201cIt was done on a mass scale, like a factory\u201d, one source said, with others describing the profiling and targeting as \u201ca video game\u201d and \u201cinsanely fun.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Gaza holds one of its largest funerals for victims of single Israeli attack (VIDEO)<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are letting the soldiers and the officers speak about what they did,\u201d Abraham told AFP, saying the filmmakers wanted to document in detail \u201chow the systems of killing in Gaza looked\u201d and operated.
\nOn Friday, the IDF vehemently rejected the allegations, arguing that the identities of the whistleblowers \u201ccannot be verified,\u201d and that it is impossible to establish whether they served in the military at all.
\nIt also stressed that allegations pertained to \u201cnational and military strategy that are clearly beyond the knowledge of junior-level soldiers.\u201d The IDF added that targeting decisions are made \u201cby human personnel only,\u201d and that its operations are only directed at \u201cterrorist organizations.\u201d\u00a0
\nThe IDF has itself acknowledged using AI for military purposes, including a system known as \u2018The Gospel\u2019, to rapidly produce targeting recommendations.
\nIn April 2024, several media outlets reported, citing Israeli intelligence sources, that Lavender had at one stage marked about 37,000 people as suspected terrorists, with the personnel sometimes spending only seconds reviewing machine-generated recommendations. Some sources quoted by The Guardian also alleged that \u201cduring the early weeks of the war they were permitted to kill 15 or 20 civilians during airstrikes on low-ranking militants.\u201d The IDF has rejected the allegations.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Israeli insiders have described the targeting and profiling of Palestinians as \u201ca video game\u201d and \u201cinsanely fun\u201d A new documentary alleging that Israel relied on powerful AI tools to kill…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":37976,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-37975","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t