The legal, ethical war which NAZA highlights and Israel is still barely showing up for – comment

The recently released NAZA film, created by two Israelis and featuring 24 anonymous Israeli soldiers, accuses the IDF of genocide and war crimes during the 2023-2025 Gaza war, particularly concerning artificial intelligence and targeting. This film, along with earlier reports from 972 Magazine and The New York Times, highlights concerns about the proportionality of civilian casualties in IDF strikes. For instance, a 2024 New York Times report cited a 100-to-1 civilian-to-terrorist ratio in one strike, while the NAZA film reportedly suggests ratios as high as 500-to-1. The article criticizes Israel's delayed and insufficient response to these allegations, noting that the IDF only issued its first report on specific war crimes allegations nearly three years into the conflict, partly due to domestic political pressure and fears of aiding international courts. Experts like former deputy attorney-general Roy Schondorf have warned that this delay has inadvertently strengthened the cases against Israel at the ICC and ICJ. The IDF maintains that it does not use factory-style targeting and employs multiple tools to assess civilian harm, though it admits to having fewer resources for evaluation at the war's outset. The article urges Israel to increase transparency and provide detailed rebuttals to these allegations to counter the growing international criticism.