Destruction caused by Israeli airstrikes is evident in Gaza City in October.
Reports indicate that Israel has been utilizing an AI-driven program named Lavender to pinpoint targets in Gaza. This revelation stems from a report by +972 Magazine and Local Call, which references insights from six Israeli officers. Allegedly, the Israeli Defense Forces (IDF) have been treating the AI-generated data as equivalent to human decisions, necessitating only a brief 20-second verification process.
According to the joint report by +972 Magazine and Local Call, Israel has been leveraging artificial intelligence to assist in target identification within Gaza. The report highlights the significant reliance of the Israeli military on an AI program called Lavender to designate individuals in Gaza as potential targets for elimination.
During the initial phases of the conflict between Hamas and Israel, the Israeli military heavily depended on Lavender for target identification, as disclosed by six Israeli intelligence officers directly involved in the program’s utilization.
The Israeli armed forces purportedly regarded the AI-generated results as authoritative, despite occasional misidentifications of individuals with tenuous affiliations to militant factions. The report indicates that the system exhibited inaccuracies in approximately 10% of cases.
One informant described how human operatives merely served as “rubber stamps” for target approval, dedicating a mere 20 seconds to verify the identified targets before initiating airstrikes. The primary focus of these verifications was often limited to confirming the gender of the targets.
As per the sources from +972 Magazine and Local Call, the Lavender system flagged up to 37,000 Palestinians as suspected “Hamas militants.” However, an IDF spokesperson refuted the existence of a designated kill list in statements provided to +972 Magazine and Local Call.
In response to the allegations, IDF representatives issued a detailed statement to Business Insider, denouncing the report as “misleading” and refuting several claims. They emphasized the necessity for analysts to independently assess and ensure that the identified targets align with the relevant definitions outlined in international law and IDF directives.
The IDF clarified that the system referenced in the report serves as a database aimed at cross-referencing intelligence sources to compile current information on military operatives affiliated with terrorist organizations.
This disclosure emerges amidst escalating scrutiny of Israel’s actions during the conflict. Tragically, seven members of the international nonprofit World Central Kitchen lost their lives in an Israeli strike on their convoy. The health ministry in Gaza has reported over 30,000 Palestinian casualties since the conflict’s onset, with foreign aid workers and journalists also falling victim to Israeli airstrikes.
