Israel Defense Forces Rebut Documentary Alleging AI-Driven Targeting

The Israel Defense Forces issued a formal rebuttal to the documentary NAZA, which alleges the Israeli military systematically targeted civilians in the Gaza Strip using artificial intelligence. The military characterized the film as distorted and misleading, denying that AI autonomously selects targets or that directives allow for strikes based on fixed civilian casualty quotas. The IDF asserted that qualified intelligence officers and operational commanders handle all target identification and final strike decisions to minimize civilian harm.

The Guardian, which produced the film, dismissed these claims and stated the findings were corroborated by leaked classified documents and interviews with over 100 sources. The newspaper argued that the participants in the film included officers involved in final authorization processes, not just junior personnel. The documentary, directed by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, recently won the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival.

Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu dismissed the film and called for the directors to be stripped of their Israeli citizenship. Meanwhile, the IDF launched a separate initiative to challenge accusations of targeting media workers, publishing a list of 170 Palestinians killed in Gaza who the military claims were members of terrorist organizations despite being presented internationally as journalists.

The IDF noted it based its response to NAZA on a representative's account of a public screening because the filmmakers declined to provide a copy of the film or submit allegations for review prior to publication.