NAZA: where and how to watch the Guardian’s Gaza documentary

By Elena Vasquez

More than 1.5 million people have watched NAZA in 47 countries since its release last month, according to the Guardian. The paper calls it one of the most-watched documentary films with a theatrical release in 2026.

When and where can audiences watch NAZA?

NAZA will be released in full on the Guardian’s website for free in early December. The Guardian says viewers can register for the exact streaming date and a film link.

Although distributors and cinemas in Israel have received offers to show the film, the Guardian reports that NAZA has not been screened there yet. A trailer is available online.

For viewers, the practical result is straightforward: a free Guardian release is imminent, while the film still lacks an Israeli screening.

What does NAZA document?

The Guardian describes NAZA as a documentary carrying testimony from 24 Israeli military intelligence officers and soldiers involved in surveillance and remote killing of Palestinian civilians during the war in Gaza. The military sources remain anonymous.

According to the Guardian, the interviewees describe military systems that identify large numbers of potential Hamas operatives, bomb them in their homes at night, and knowingly expose their families to death. The systems use AI to support identification at scale.

The Guardian says the title NAZA comes from an Israeli military acronym used euphemistically for civilians expected to be killed in a military attack. Interviews took place at night on Tel Aviv rooftops, where the risks of public disclosure made anonymity essential.

The film digitally alters each participant’s appearance and voice. In the Guardian’s account, these safeguards allow military insiders to describe targeting practices while concealing who they are.

The film’s central subject is therefore a chain of AI-assisted identification, overnight bombing and civilian harm.

Who made NAZA?

Israeli directors Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor, both Oscar winners, directed NAZA, which the Guardian produced. Building on investigations published from 2023 through 2025, the film connects reporting by +972, Local Call and the Guardian newspaper.

Abraham and Szor were two of four directors of No Other Land, alongside Palestinians Basel Adra and Hamdan Ballal. Their documentary documents the destruction of Masafer Yatta, a village in the occupied West Bank targeted by Israeli forces. It won the Oscar for best documentary in 2025.

James Wilson co-produced NAZA, and Jonathan Glazer served as executive producer. The Guardian identifies both as the team behind the Oscar-winning film The Zone of Interest.

The production history links NAZA to two established award-winning documentary teams.

How has NAZA been received?

The Guardian reports widespread critical acclaim and sell-outs in cinemas across the world. Four publications supplied distinct verdicts:

• The New York Times says NAZA is “tough to watch, and impossible to ignore”.
• New York Magazine describes it as “one of the most important films of our time”.
• The Financial Times, in a five-star review, says that “journalism and film-making brilliantly entwine”.
• British Vogue calls NAZA a “brilliant and harrowing film”.

At Venice, its September premiere received a 25-minute ovation, which the Guardian identifies as a festival record, before the film won the special jury prize. In November, it won the best political documentary award from the Critics Choice Association.

The Guardian’s record is one of commercial reach as well as critical and institutional recognition.

Why has there been an Israeli backlash?

The Guardian reports that NAZA, its directors and their confidential sources have faced fierce attacks from the Israeli government and military. Prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu ordered the attorney general and the head of the Shin Bet security service to reveal the identities of the sources interviewed and prosecute them for causing “harm to Israel’s diplomatic and security interests”.

Netanyahu also threatened to strip Abraham and Szor of their citizenship, accusing them of treason. Israeli military chief of staff Eyal Zamir said the military would “not allow soldiers to be made targets through lies and blood libels” and would use “every tool at our disposal” against the film.

Far-right groups have vowed to hound the filmmakers when they return to Israel and picketed Szor’s family home. The Guardian says some messages included explicit calls for violence, with one protester demanding the “death penalty for traitors”.

The Israeli military claimed there were “substantial errors” in the film and that it relied on sources with only a partial picture of the target approval process. It said AI helped identify targets in Gaza, but officers signed off on strikes and civilian-casualty risks.

According to the Guardian, the film team responded that it spoke to more than 100 sources with knowledge of the military systems used in the war.

The dispute now reaches source identities, prosecutions, citizenship and physical safety in the Guardian’s account.

What is “NAZA: The Real Story”?

The Israeli government is promoting an online project called NAZA: The Real Story, hosted at nazadocumentary.com. The Guardian says it mimics the genuine documentary, is not NAZA itself, and has misled some viewers.

The rival project initially presented itself falsely as a promotional page for NAZA. It named Abraham and Szor as directors and listed festivals where the documentary was due to screen. It now appears as a platform for the rival film, which Israeli embassies have promoted.

Ariel Averbuch, an Israeli attorney and army reservist who co-created NAZA: The Real Story, calls it an “offensive move” intended to shift the world’s focus from allegations about the Israeli military’s killing of civilians.

Abraham and Szor have addressed the backlash to their documentary. Szor said: “Our country is doing so much to hide these systems.”

As NAZA’s free Guardian release arrives in early December, viewers and distributors must keep the verified film distinct from the government-promoted imitation.