A bombshell new documentary produced in collaboration with The Guardian has pulled back the curtain on a covert Israeli intelligence operation targeting Palestinian survivors of conflict-related atrocities, revealing how the unit gathered compromising personal information to derail war crime petitions submitted to international legal bodies. Directed by filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, *NAZA* – whose title draws from a Hebrew military acronym for “collateral damage” – is currently screening in cinemas across the United Kingdom and United States, with planned screenings scheduled in more than 50 additional countries around the globe.
The core of the film draws from anonymous on-camera interviews with 24 retired and current Israeli soldiers and intelligence operatives, who detail widespread practices that have resulted in the deaths of innocent Palestinian civilians in Gaza. One of the most explosive revelations centers on a secretive special unit directly answering to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, referred to by insiders as “Bibi’s Department.” Netanyahu is currently the subject of an International Criminal Court (ICC) arrest warrant over allegations of war crimes and crimes against humanity, a legal proceeding the unit was specifically designed to undermine.
In their on-camera testimonies, operatives describe how the unit framed Palestinian survivors of war crimes in Gaza as national security threats, justifying broad invasive surveillance campaigns against these individuals and anyone connected to their legal efforts. “The more war crimes we committed, the more pressure there was” on the global diplomatic stage, one senior intelligence officer recalled in the interview. This growing international scrutiny created the problem that “Bibi’s Department” was created to solve, the operatives confirmed.
According to interviewees, the unit’s core strategy was to disrupt and block legal petitions Palestinian survivors brought to the ICC, based in The Hague. To force survivors to abandon their legal claims, operatives used compromising personal information collected through surveillance, most notably private details about extramarital romantic relationships and same-sex partnerships, to pressure and blackmail witnesses. One intelligence officer confirmed that multiple ICC cases were ultimately withdrawn as a direct result of this pressure campaign. Any contact between Palestinian claimants and international legal officials was automatically flagged as a threat to Israeli interests, operatives added, with all collected intelligence funneled directly to the Prime Minister’s office. One interviewee also confirmed that the unit’s work aligned with Netanyahu’s long-stated overarching goal: preventing the establishment of an independent Palestinian state.
The documentary also reveals lax rules of engagement that permitted the deaths of as many as 20 civilian bystanders for every targeted individual. In one stunning account, an operative recalled that a military target was approved even though intelligence projected it would lead to 500 Palestinian civilian casualties – a claim the Israeli army has publicly denied.
To protect the identities of the whistleblowers, all interviews were conducted after dark on concealed Tel Aviv rooftops, with the speakers’ faces hidden throughout filming. The revelations have triggered furious pushback from the Israeli government: earlier this week, Netanyahu ordered Israel’s attorney general and the head of Shin Bet, the country’s internal security service, to uncover the interviewees’ identities and pursue criminal prosecution, claiming their disclosures have caused severe damage to Israel’s diplomatic and national security interests. Israeli officials have also threatened to strip both directors of their Israeli citizenship over the film.
Despite the government’s aggressive crackdown, the documentary earned international acclaim before its wide theatrical release. Last month at the Venice International Film Festival, *NAZA* took home the Special Jury Prize following the longest standing ovation in the festival’s history.
The tactics exposed in the film align with a long-documented pattern of Israeli efforts to undermine the work of the ICC. Middle East Eye, which provided additional reporting on the documentary’s claims, has previously published extensive investigations into an Israeli lobbying campaign aimed at removing ICC Chief Prosecutor Karim Khan from office. Earlier this month, the United States also implemented formal sanctions against the ICC itself over its investigations into Israeli actions in Palestinian territories.