IDF Veterans' Gaza Film Sparks Fury After Venice Win

The film "No Other Land" by Yuval Abraham and Rachel Szor has ignited a firestorm in Israel after winning the Special Jury Prize at the Venice Film Festival and receiving no less than 25 minutes of standing ovations. Culture Minister Miki Zohar threatened to revoke the filmmakers' citizenship, while Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu condemned the work as "simply intolerable."

What the Film Shows

Produced by The Guardian, the documentary is built around 24 testimonies from former IDF soldiers and officers. The interviewees' identities remain concealed, filmed in darkness on Tel Aviv rooftops with the city's lights, residential buildings, and nighttime traffic visible in the background.

The veterans discuss military operations in Gaza and Judea and Samaria following the October 7 massacre. Some describe the anger and desire for revenge they felt at the war's outset, then detail how decisions regarding bombardments were made and explain the term "collateral damage" — referring to harm to individuals who are not the intended target.

Artificial Intelligence in Gaza

Among the testimonies are descriptions of rules of engagement that, according to the interviewees, initially permitted a certain number of collateral casualties (20) alongside strikes on Hamas suspects. Later, they claim, this number increased significantly: "The most we approved was 500," one said. Another soldier testified: "There's no distinction between babies, children and adults, they're all marked as collateral damage."

Screenshot from the film "No Other Land" Photo: Social media

One interviewee describes a system called "Lavender," an artificial intelligence platform designed to help identify Hamas operatives using information from phones. According to the film, the system is so precise it can show for any building in Gaza how many collateral casualties would result from a strike. Another interviewee describes a system that searched for specific words in a child's phone to help identify bombing targets.

Alongside the testimonies, the film presents everyday life in Tel Aviv: people sitting in restaurants, watching the news, socializing, and practicing yoga, while not far away the military operations described by the interviewees unfold. The film creates a juxtaposition between the city's routine and the stories behind the military activity, apparently aiming to create the impression that Palestinian lives hold no value in Israeli eyes.

Later, some interviewees are asked how they define the operations in which they participated, and some address the term "genocide." One interviewee compares questions he once asked himself about Nazi behavior when visiting concentration camps to the actions in which he himself participated.

From the film's promotional material (Photo: Courtesy)

IDF Spokesperson's Response

The IDF denied the claim that a strike was approved in which approximately 500 civilians were expected to be killed, clarifying that no strike of such magnitude was ever planned or executed.

Additionally, the IDF emphasized that technological systems do not make strike decisions autonomously; rather, decisions are made by human personnel in accordance with international law.

The IDF also cast doubt on the reliability of the testimonies on which the film is based, since they are anonymous and cannot be verified. Furthermore, they clarified that some of the testimonies deal with subjects outside the knowledge or role of the soldiers and interviewees presented in the film.

Without addressing the claims themselves, one can see with stark clarity the missing piece in the puzzle the film assembled with cold, calculated skill: the October 7 massacre and the Hamas atrocities that led to the current situation. This silence screams louder than a thousand words.