The IDF issued a forceful rejection on Monday of allegations presented in the documentary film "NAZA", which secured a special award at the Venice Film Festival over the weekend. In a rare public rebuke directed at filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, the military dismissed the accusations of intentional harm to Palestinian civilians as entirely baseless and built on unsubstantiated testimonies.
Releasing an official statement, the IDF characterized the film's core allegations as an "completely false." The military stressed it had never planned or authorized any strike in the Gaza Strip with an anticipated casualty count of 500 civilians – a claim widely circulated on social media by those promoting the release. Furthermore, the IDF noted the filmmakers failed to authenticate their assertions and lack any supporting evidence. It was also made clear independent verification of the interviewees' identities or military ranks remains impossible.
"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 anything near that number of fatalities," the IDF said on its X account. "The filmmakers 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...
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