“Naza” Chronicles Bibi’s Killing Spree

Naza (Yuval Abraham/Rachel Szor, 2026) 5 out of 5 stars

By now in this increasingly horrific century of ours, quoting Orwell has become quite the cliché, so forgive me for citing these famous lines from his seminal dystopian novel 1984 (published in 1949): “The Party told you to reject the evidence of your eyes and ears. It was their final, most essential command.” There are so many real-world issues to wish this can apply, given the rise once more of authoritarian systems, but allow me to direct it to Israel and Gaza. For far too many people, the facts on the ground appear to not matter. Bombing children is framed as fighting terrorism, and claiming otherwise gets you labeled an antisemite.

Enter Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, two Jewish Israelis who dare to counter their country’s official position and horrific actions in their new documentary, Naza. Both worked together on the equally disturbing 2024 No Other Land. Actually, I have to amend that last sentence, for Naza makes No Other Land seem mild by comparison.

The title is an acronym that comes from the Hebrew phrase “nezek agavi,” which means “collateral damage.” It’s what the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) use to refer to anyone killed in the pursuit of a target who is not the target. Almost always, those so murdered are women and children. At one point in the film we learn that “20 naza” (1 naza = 1 person) is an acceptable amount. Adding insult to deadly injury is that the primary quarry is often missed, since AI software is (not surprisingly) not always accurate.

The very brave Abraham conducts interviews with 24 IDF soldiers and intelligence officers on a series of rooftops around Tel Aviv, asking them—many of whom are consenting to speak to him because of serious pangs of conscience—to explain what they do/did for the IDF and how they see their country’s goals for this seemingly endless war. The upshot is that Israeli Prime Minister Bibi Netanyahu and his extreme-right-wing cronies wish to exterminate the Palestinian people. No matter official proclamations to the contrary, the slaughter of children is a feature, not a bug.

True, Israel suffered a terrorist attack from Hamas on October 7, 2023—just over three years ago—and approximately 1200 of its citizens were massacred, with more taken hostage. No one should celebrate the death of civilians, anywhere. But if we hold such an opinion, it applies to everyone, everywhere. Despite the belief expressed here, quoting military leaders, that “there are no innocents in Gaza,” of course there are. To think otherwise is to lean in, hard, to the worst possible version of yourself.

Also, since we discover here that all buildings in Gaza were effectively bugged after Israel’s 1967 occupation of the territory, and that the IDF basically hears everything being said—including on cell phones—how is it even possible that Hamas could carry out its attack through surprise? At least one soldier asks that question. It makes you wonder what exactly Netanyahu knew and when he knew it. After all, this is a man who, like Donald Trump in the United States, was facing criminal penalties for past behavior. Nothing like rallying your people to your side through violence, am I right?

And violence there is aplenty, though it’s almost all described, rather than seen (until the brutal finale). The movie proceeds through conversations between Abraham and his subjects—their voices and faces altered through software so they won’t be arrested for divulging what they divulge—coupled with archival footage and B-roll of apartments seen from the rooftops. These images of normalcy exist in jarring contrast to the tales of misery we hear about, and when we finally cut to shots of Gazan rubble at the end, we feel that pain even more.

At 80 minutes, Naza is extremely hard to watch but thankfully restrained in its approach and short enough that just when you want to scream more than you’ve been screaming it comes to an end. If it doesn’t make you angrier than you already are, nothing will help you regain your humanity. Over 75,000 Palestinians have been dispatched since 2023 (and that’s a conservative estimate); too many are still left alive for Bibi’s taste. They’re no longer just naza, but the main targets in his psychotic crosshairs. It turns out that putting a serial killer in charge is a terrible idea. Who could have guessed? My heart bleeds for Gaza, and yours should, too.

Christopher Llewellyn Reed

Chris Reed is the editor of Film Festival Today. A member of both the Online Film Critics Society (OFCS) and the Washington DC Area Film Critics Association (WAFCA), and a Rotten Tomatoes-approved film critic, Chris is, in addition, lead film critic at Hammer to Nail and the author of Film Editing: Theory and Practice.