I’ve debated with Israel’s most fervent defenders – NAZA debunks their talking points | Mehdi Hasan

What Happened

In an opinion article, Mehdi Hasan discusses the Guardian-produced documentary NAZA by Israeli filmmakers Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, which features testimony from two dozen anonymous Israeli soldiers and intelligence officers. According to the film's sources, an AI-led targeting system tracked and bombed Hamas commanders at night in their homes alongside family members; one source states that the claim Hamas uses private homes as human shields is 'absurd' and false. One Israeli intelligence source describes hacking the phone of a 12-year-old Palestinian girl to find her father and then bombing the house, killing her. Another interviewee says troops bombed a boy who entered a military-controlled zone and left corpses to be eaten by dogs. The documentary also includes testimony that troops in northern Gaza were told 'anyone who enters the zone needs to die,' that one unit killed 140 unarmed people who were counted as terrorists, and that Israeli snipers shot Palestinians at food distribution sites in 2025.

Key Actors

Why It Matters

The documentary supplies first-person Israeli military testimony that directly contradicts official Israeli justifications for civilian deaths in Gaza, including the human shields defense, the classification of Palestinians as combatants, and attribution of food-line killings. Such testimony may be used in public debate and legal proceedings, including genocide allegations at the ICJ and ICC, and could shape international scrutiny of Israeli operations in northern Gaza and at food distribution points.

Watch For

Monitor whether Israeli officials or the IDF respond to NAZA, whether the full 80-minute film reaches wider audiences, and whether ICC, ICJ, or human rights organizations cite the testimony. Also watch for investigations into the reported northern Gaza annihilation zones, the killing of 140 unarmed people counted as terrorists, and the 2025 shootings at food distribution sites.