In parallel with the start of the aggression against Gaza last October, Israel hastened to introduce weapons and systems supported by artificial intelligence capabilities in order to wage a comprehensive and devastating war on the Strip.
At a time when the countries of the world are making strenuous efforts to harness artificial intelligence tools to serve humanity and reduce the impact of natural disasters, Israel has decided to take a completely different path by developing and adapting these tools in a way that helps it develop more advanced and smaller offensive weapons in a way that reduces the risks to its soldiers. It increases the number of losses among Palestinian civilians and their property.
In parallel with the start of the aggression against Gaza last October, Israel hastened to introduce weapons and systems supported by artificial intelligence capabilities in order to wage a comprehensive and destructive war on the Strip.
While the French newspaper Liberation said that the algorithms developed by Israel or private American companies and used by the Israeli occupation army are one of the most destructive and deadly bombing methods in the 21st century.
"Aggression Artificial Intelligence"
The Israeli newspaper Jerusalem Post reported on the authority of Israeli military leaders that the occupation army is fighting what they called the first “artificial intelligence war,” using advanced algorithms.
According to Anadolu , Israel has been using artificial intelligence systems in military systems since 2021, and continues to work on developing them. Over the past years, it has been able to develop systems that operate with artificial intelligence, such as “The Alchemist,” “Ras al-Hikma,” “The Annunciation,” and “The Fire Factory,” in the laboratories and laboratories of Unit 8200 of the Israeli Intelligence Agency.
According to the British newspaper The Guardian , the recent aggression against Gaza provided an unprecedented opportunity for the occupation army to use such tools in a much broader theater of operations. However, relatively little attention has been paid to the methods used by the Israeli occupation army to select targets in Gaza, and to the role that artificial intelligence has played in the bombing campaign.
In the occupied West Bank, Israel is increasingly using facial recognition technology to monitor and regulate the movement of Palestinians. An Amnesty International report reveals that at heavily fortified checkpoints in Hebron, Palestinians must undergo facial recognition scans, with a colour-coded mechanism guiding soldiers on whether individuals should be allowed to proceed, subjected to further interrogation or detained .
"Algorithmic massacres"
According to Liberation newspaper , the occupation uses artificial intelligence algorithms to analyze a large number of intelligence data and quickly estimate the effects of various potential strategic options. The newspaper reported that the occupation army uses two tools in particular in its war on the Gaza Strip, namely “The Annunciation” and “The Fire Factory.”
While the “Fire Factory” system works to target gatherings of no less than 5 people, to prevent collateral damage and deaths among civilians, the “Al-Bisharah” system, which was tested for the first time in the recent Gaza attacks, does not work in this same formula.
The “Al Bishara” system has the ability to analyze sources of information coming from human elements and other intelligence means, such as drone images, surveillance data, geographical analysis, monitoring the movements and behavioral patterns of individuals and large population gatherings, and identifying and discovering targets by analyzing large sets of information.
The “Al Bishara” system, supported by artificial intelligence, is capable of analyzing sources of information coming from human elements and other intelligence means, such as drone images, surveillance data, geographical analysis, monitoring the movements and behavioral patterns of individuals and large population gatherings, and identifying and discovering targets by analyzing large sets of information.
While the “Fire Factory” system was able to detect 50 targets annually during the past years, the “Al-Bisharah” system was able to detect at least 100 targets daily, half of which were bombed, according to Anatolia , causing thousands of martyrs and wounded among civilians.
No rules anymore
The unprecedented number of casualties and scale of damage caused by the Israeli bombing of Gaza has ignited debate about the use of artificial intelligence in weapons systems. Experts agree that the heavy civilian casualties in recent attacks on Gaza are largely due to the use of these systems.
According to the French newspaper Le Monde , automated weapons today are divided into two main categories: fully automated lethal weapons systems, of which there are no real examples on the market, and lethal autonomous weapons (LAWs), which in principle allow humans to take control.
While the vast majority of Western military powers, including Israel, claim that they have chosen autonomous weapons, the scale of destruction and the number of casualties in Gaza indicate quite the opposite.
Which prompted Laure de Roussy Rochegonde, a researcher at the International War Research Institute (IFRI) and author of a thesis on the regulation of autonomous weapons systems, to say that the details of the aggression on Gaza push the international community to reactivate another regulatory concept that limits this chaos of “unknown” algorithms.
After targeting hundreds of health facilities, there is a severe shortage of all necessities of life for the residents of Gaza
A joint statement by the heads of 19 UN agencies indicated that the necessities of life in Gaza are experiencing a severe shortage and that more than 370 Israeli attacks have targeted health care facilities since October 7. The statement called on Israel to fulfill its legal obligations under international humanitarian law.
United Nations agencies said that more than 370 Israeli attacks have targeted health care facilities in the Gaza Strip since last October 7.
This came in a joint statement by the heads of 19 UN and international agencies on Wednesday evening, issued by the UN Inter-Agency Standing Committee (IASC), the highest platform for humanitarian coordination in the UN system.
The statement explained that "in less than five months after the October 7 attacks tens of thousands of Palestinians, most of them women and children, were killed and wounded in the Gaza Strip."
He added, "More than three-quarters of the population in Gaza have been forced to leave their homes several times, and face severe shortages of food, water, sanitation, and health care, which are the basic necessities for survival."
The statement stated that the health system in Gaza is “systematically deteriorating, as only 12 hospitals in the Strip are partially functioning out of 36.”
He pointed out that "more than 370 (Israeli) attacks have targeted health care facilities in Gaza since October 7."
Rafah "the last refuge"
The statement explained that the city of Rafah has become the final destination for more than a million displaced, hungry and psychologically traumatized people, crammed into a small piece of land, and has turned into another battlefield in this brutal conflict.
He stressed that "further escalation of violence in this densely populated region would cause large numbers of casualties, and could also deal a fatal blow to the already suffering humanitarian response."
For weeks, the Israeli occupation army has been escalating its military campaign against the health system in Khan Yunis, and in recent days it has forced thousands of displaced Palestinians to leave Al-Amal Hospital and Nasser Medical Complex in the city.
The UN agencies' statement indicated that humanitarian workers have become "displaced and face bombing, death, restrictions on movement and the collapse of civil order, and they continue their efforts to deliver aid to those in need."
The agencies stressed that they "remain committed to doing their work, despite the risks, but they cannot be left alone to deal with the situation."
It called on Israel to "fulfill its legal obligations, under international humanitarian law and human rights law, to provide food and medical supplies and facilitate aid operations."
On Tuesday, the World Food Program announced, in a statement, that it would stop providing vital food aid to the northern Gaza Strip “until safe conditions are available.”
Since last October 7, Israel has been waging a devastating war on the Gaza Strip that has left tens of thousands of civilian victims, most of them children and women, in addition to an unprecedented humanitarian catastrophe and massive destruction of infrastructure, which led to Tel Aviv appearing before the International Court of Justice on charges of “genocide.”