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<a class="gmail-domain gmail-reader-domain" href="https://english.almayadeen.net/articles/opinion/-israel-s--tech-war-on-palestine">english.almayadeen.net</a>
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<h1 class="gmail-reader-title">The Israeli tech war on Palestine</h1>
<div class="gmail-credits gmail-reader-credits">Stavroula Pabst</div>
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<div class="gmail-reader-estimated-time" dir="ltr">December 21, 2023<br></div>
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<div class="gmail-moz-reader-content gmail-reader-show-element"><div id="gmail-readability-page-1" class="gmail-page"><p>The Israeli war on Palestine is making the most of new AI-powered, surveillance, and defense technologies.</p><img src="cid:ii_lqi8icv60" alt="c61432f8-68db-4fcf-b0f3-43cd812cd68a.jpg" width="440" height="346"><br><div><ul id="gmail-content-slick-0"><div aria-hidden="false"><li>In the West Bank, Palestinians must pass through checkpoints
where Red Wolf scans their faces and tells IOF soldiers whether they
should pass, be interrogated, or detained. (Al Mayadeen English;
Illustrated by Batoul Chamas)
</li></div></ul>
<p>The Israelis are pummeling Gaza — with the assistance of the very
latest in AI-powered, surveillance, and defense tech.
</p>
<p>For starters, the Israeli government is using an AI-powered system, which it calls <a href="https://www.newarab.com/analysis/gospel-israels-controversial-ai-used-gaza-war">"habsora" ("the Gospel")</a> to rapidly identify targets in Gaza to bomb. In fact, with the assistance of tools like the Gospel system, the IOF has struck <a href="https://www.idf.il/en/mini-sites/hamas-israel-war-23/real-time-updates/">22,000 targets in the Gaza Strip</a> as of 15 December, often striking hundreds of targets per day. </p>
<p>In a pre-war interview, former Israeli Occupation Forces (IOF) Chief of General Staff Aviv Kochavi <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/01/the-gospel-how-israel-uses-ai-to-select-bombing-targets">described the Gospel system</a>
as "a machine that produces vast amounts of data more effectively than
any human, and translates it into targets for attack." Indeed, the
Gospel system can allegedly <a href="https://theconversation.com/israels-ai-can-produce-100-bombing-targets-a-day-in-gaza-is-this-the-future-of-war-219302">identify 100 attack targets</a> per day, much faster than the IOF’s estimated 50-100 targets that an intelligence team could previously select in <a href="https://www.npr.org/2023/12/14/1218643254/israel-is-using-an-ai-system-to-find-targets-in-gaza-experts-say-its-just-the-st">about 300 days</a>. </p>
<p>Meanwhile, other defense-oriented, AI-powered tech groups are assisting Gaza’s destruction. Prominent <a href="https://www.skydio.com/">US-based drone manufacturer Skydio</a> has been <a href="https://www.wsj.com/politics/national-security/chinese-americanit-doesnt-matter-israel-wants-inexpensive-drones-339a1355">sending the IOF</a> reconnaissance drones, and defense and <a href="https://shield.ai/">aerospace startup Shield AI</a> is <a href="https://www.politico.com/news/2023/11/25/israel-hamas-war-ai-weapons-00128550">providing the Israelis</a> with <a href="https://shield.ai/nova-2/">Nova 2 self-piloting drones,</a> suited for close range and even indoor combat. The Israelis also reportedly <a href="https://defensescoop.com/2023/11/07/us-considers-israeli-request-for-hundreds-of-switchblade-600-attack-drones/">requested 200 Switchblade</a> 600 kamikaze drones after October 7. </p>
<p>Israeli forces <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/world/2023/dec/01/the-gospel-how-israel-uses-ai-to-select-bombing-targets">say that AI-powered tools</a>
like the Gospel can save lives, claiming their purported accuracy
ensures civilians are less likely to be hit. But such assertions cannot
be taken at face value within the context of the Israeli mass
destruction of Gaza, where Israeli leaders and institutions actively
call for ethnic cleansing, and Israeli forces frequently attack
civilian-dense hospitals and schools. As Jonathan Ofir <a href="https://mondoweiss.net/2023/10/israeli-think-tank-lays-out-a-blueprint-for-the-complete-ethnic-cleansing-of-gaza/">reported for <em>Mondoweiss</em></a><em> </em>in
October, for example, the Misgav Institute for National Security &
Zionist Strategy, an Israeli think tank, advocated for a "relocation and
final settlement of the entire Gaza population" and to "evacuate the
whole Gaza strip." </p>
<p>David Azoulai, the head of the Israeli "Metulla" Council, even <a href="https://www.indiatoday.in/world/story/israel-hamas-war-israeli-leader-david-azoulai-gaza-should-look-like-auschwitz-concentration-camp-poland-2477285-2023-12-18">said in a radio interview</a>
that "the entire Gaza Strip should be emptied and leveled flat, just
like in Auschwitz… Let it become a museum, showcasing the capabilities
of the State of Israel and dissuading anyone from living in the Gaza
Strip."</p>
<p>Zooming out, <a href="https://www.newarab.com/analysis/how-israels-war-deliberately-making-gaza-uninhabitable">the UN estimates</a> that almost 1.5 million Palestinians have been internally displaced since October 7, with <a href="https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/israel-has-destroyed-over-60-of-houses-in-gaza-strip-gaza-government/3069698">over 60 percent</a> of the Gaza Strip’s housing units destroyed as of early December. In fact, <a href="https://www.nytimes.com/live/2023/12/18/world/israel-hamas-war-gaza-news">almost 20,000 people</a>
have been killed in Gaza at the time of writing. The ongoing carnage
includes a campaign against Gaza-based journalists and writers, which
has led to the <a href="https://www.aa.com.tr/en/middle-east/97-palestinian-journalists-killed-by-israeli-army-in-gaza-since-oct-7-authorities/3086528">deaths of 97 journalists</a> as of December 19. The Israelis have also targeted activists and intellectuals, including prominent writer <a href="https://thegrayzone.com/2023/12/07/tribute-refaat-alareer-teacher-murdered-israel/">Dr. Refaat Alareer</a>, who was recently killed in an "<a href="https://euromedmonitor.org/en/article/6014/Israeli-Strike-on-Refaat-al-Areer-Apparently-Deliberate">apparently deliberate</a>" Israeli air strike.</p>
<p>And while the bombs drop, the Israelis are upping their surveillance
capacities in Palestine, likely using the controversial Israeli spyware
company <a href="https://www.axios.com/2023/01/27/nso-ceo-spyware-washington-dc">NSO Group's Pegasus</a>, a spyware able to infiltrate a person’s device without their knowledge. While NSO Group claims Pegasus is <a href="https://www.axios.com/2023/11/14/pegasus-nso-hamas-israel-spyware">helping track the status</a> of Hamas-held captives, cybersecurity experts and rights activists, <a href="https://www.fastcompany.com/90987722/nso-pegasus-spyware-israel-hamas-skepticism">skeptical that Pegasus</a> is suited for such a task, ponder whether such claims are about rehabilitating NSO Group’s tarnished reputation (NSO Group is <a href="https://www.theguardian.com/us-news/2021/nov/03/nso-group-pegasus-spyware-us-blacklist">on a US blacklist.</a>) Citing the <a href="https://www.axios.com/2023/11/14/pegasus-nso-hamas-israel-spyware">alleged use of Pegasus</a> to spy on journalists as early as 2020, rather, <em>Axios </em>cybersecurity reporter <a href="https://www.axios.com/2023/11/14/pegasus-nso-hamas-israel-spyware">Sam Sabin explains </a>there
are seemingly few controls in place to "ensure [Pegasus] technology
won't be used for broad surveillance of the entire Palestinian
population."</p>
<p>Meanwhile, the Israeli government has entrenched an <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/israel-surveillance-state-out-of-control-west-bank/">extensive surveillance framework</a>
in the West Bank, including facial-recognition cameras, manned
checkpoints, watch towers, and the mass (and often biometric) data
collection of Palestinians’ information <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/wolf-pack-israel-accelerated-use-facial-recognition-automated-apartheid">via the "Wolf Pack"</a> system, <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/wolf-pack-israel-accelerated-use-facial-recognition-automated-apartheid">which has a profile</a> of "<a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/israel-palestinians-surveillance-facial-recognition/2021/11/05/3787bf42-26b2-11ec-8739-5cb6aba30a30_story.html">virtually</a>" every Palestinian living in the West Bank. </p>
<p>In West Bank’s Hebron (Al-Khalil), Palestinians going about
day-to-day life must pass through checkpoints which scan their faces,
where "Red Wolf" software, <a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/wolf-pack-israel-accelerated-use-facial-recognition-automated-apartheid">according to <em>Middle East Eye</em></a>, "uses a colour-coded system to tell Israeli soldiers whether Palestinians should pass, be interrogated or detained." (<a href="https://www.middleeasteye.net/news/wolf-pack-israel-accelerated-use-facial-recognition-automated-apartheid">Middle East Eye also reports</a> that Israeli settlers in Hebron do not have to pass through the checkpoints). <a href="https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/israel-palestinians-surveillance-facial-recognition/2021/11/05/3787bf42-26b2-11ec-8739-5cb6aba30a30_story.html">"Blue Wolf,"</a>
meanwhile, a pared-down version of Wolf Pack suitable for smartphones,
allows Israeli soldiers to compare the photo they take of a Palestinian
person with a larger database of photos to allow or deny them entry
through a given checkpoint.</p>
<p>Through this multi-faceted framework, the Israelis have <a href="https://www.wired.com/story/israel-surveillance-state-out-of-control-west-bank/">effectively "locked" Palestinians</a> living in the West Bank in their neighborhoods for days at a time since October 7. Namely, West Bank residents<a href="https://www.wired.com/story/israel-surveillance-state-out-of-control-west-bank/"> told <em>Wired</em> contributor Tom Bennett </a> they’re able to leave their neighborhood "just three days per week."</p>
<p>Ultimately, state-of-the-art AI, surveillance systems, and other
adjacent weapons technologies are being deployed widely and thus
normalized in wartime, bypassing critical ethics conversations as to how
or whether they should be used. Meanwhile in Palestine, the Israelis
have equipped such tools to destroy infrastructure, surveil, and kill en
masse.</p></div></div></div>
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