The Israeli military has utilized artificial intelligence (AI) to identify more than 37,000 potential targets in Gaza, according to intelligence sources.
Called Lavender, the AI-powered database processes huge amounts of data to pinpoint individuals supposedly linked to Hamas or Palestinian Islamic Jihad.
It was developed by an elite division of the Israel Defense Forces (IDF), which claims the tool has 90 percent accuracy in identifying people.
Although few details were made available about how it works, it was stated that the AI tech operates alongside another AI tool called Gospel, which identifies enemy buildings and structures.
Since the deployment of Lavender, the Israeli military has allegedly compiled a vast database of low-ranking individuals in Gaza.
‘Easier Target Detection’
Six unnamed Israeli intelligence officials detailed the country’s use of AI to journalist Yuval Abraham for the Israeli-Palestinian publication +972 Magazine.
One of them said the AI tool has made target selection easier in Gaza.
“I would invest 20 seconds for each target at this stage, and do dozens of them every day. I had zero added-value as a human, apart from being a stamp of approval,” he explained. “It saved a lot of time!”
Another source claimed that AI was more trustworthy than humans, whose emotions can play a large role in selecting and neutralizing targets.
“Everyone there, including me, lost people on October 7,” he said. “The machine did it coldly. And that made it easier.”
Collateral Damage
The intelligence sources revealed that Israeli military figures permitted the killing of AI-identified targets in the early days of the war, even at the expense of Palestinian civilians.
They also said the IDF usually carried out attacks using bombs dropped in residential areas.
“Even if an attack is averted, you don’t care – you immediately move on to the next target. Because of the system, the targets never end. You have another 36,000 waiting,” one of them stated.
But in a written response, the IDF said the “baseless” statements of the six sources reflect a “flawed understanding of military directives and international law.”
It also clarified that Lavender is simply a database that cross-references intelligence sources to produce up-to-date layers of information on terrorist organizations.
