Netanyahu demands probe into Gaza film's anonymous Israeli military sources

JERUSALEM: Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu called on Sunday for an investigation into the anonymous sources featured in the award-winning Gaza war documentary "NAZA."

The film is based on testimony from 24 unnamed Israeli military whistleblowers who accuse the army of killing numerous civilians in Gaza with the use of AI-powered targeting systems.

"Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu this evening asked the chief of staff of the Israeli army, the head of the Shin Bet (domestic intelligence), and the state attorney to open a thorough investigation targeting the participants in the film 'NAZA' and to prosecute them," Netanyahu's office said in a statement.

"NAZA" takes its name from the Israeli military term for civilian casualties expected in airstrikes, an abbreviated form of the Hebrew phrase for "collateral damage."

Awarded a special jury prize at the Venice Film Festival, the film received a historic 25-minute standing ovation, but it has triggered a political storm in Israel.

"This film tells a false, misleading and biased story that defames the State of Israel and the army around the world," Netanyahu said, according to the statement.

He has previously declared his intention to back legislation to strip citizenship from people who "defame" soldiers.

The Israeli army, for its part, has "categorically" rejected the accusations contained in the film, expressing doubts about the reliability of the anonymous contributors.

Launched in retaliation for Hamas's deadly Oct 7, 2023 attacks, Israel's military campaign in Gaza has killed more than 74,000 people, according to the territory's health ministry, which operates under Hamas authority and whose figures are considered reliable by the United Nations.--AFP