How Israel's AI use is resulting in indiscriminate civilian deaths in Gaza

The staggering number of children and women killed in besieged Gaza has put the spotlight on Israel's increasing use of artificial intelligence (AI), which does not differentiate between combatants and civilians in picking targets.

As Israel resumes its offensive in devastated Gaza after a seven-day ceasefire, the number of casualties has risen sharply – with close to 16,000 people killed since Israel launched what is being described as a "collective punishment" of Gaza residents following the October 7 Hamas attacks.

In a bid to target Hamas hideouts, IDF's strikes are far from surgical, and reports suggest limited attention to target selection methods in Gaza. The integration of AI into lethal operations has played a pivotal role in recent Israel-Hamas wars.

In May 2021, officials said Israel had fought its 'first AI war' during the bombardment of Gaza for 11 days using machine learning and advanced computing.

And months ahead of the Hamas attacks in Israel on October 7, the IDF revealed its integration of AI into lethal operations.

According to Bloomberg, as of July 15, the IDF has initiated the use of AI to select a target in air strikes and logistical planning during wartime.

Israeli officials also disclosed the implementation of an AI system for target selection in aerial bombardments, alongside another model named 'Fire Factory'.

The Fire Factory system utilises data on military-approved targets to calculate munition loads, prioritise and allocate thousands of targets to aircraft and drones, and propose a schedule for subsequent raids.

And in the latest Israel-Hamas war, the use of an AI platform called "The Gospel" is said to have been a notable aspect of their operations in Gaza.

Current and former members of Israel's intelligence community, Palestinian testimonies, data from Gaza, and official statements suggest that authorisation for bombing non-military targets, a relaxation of constraints regarding expected civilian casualties, and the use of AI to generate an unprecedented number of potential targets have all contributed to one of the deadliest military campaigns against Palestinians since 1948.

Hence, in Israel's "Operation Iron Swords," there has seen a significant increase in the bombing of non-military targets, including private residences, public buildings, infrastructure, and high-rise blocks, categorised by the army as "power targets".

'Expected casualties'

Several sources, speaking to +972 Magazine and Local Call, confirmed that the Israeli army possesses files on the majority of potential targets in Gaza, including residences.

These files specify the number of civilians likely to be killed in an attack on a particular target. The army's intelligence units calculate and know the expected civilian casualties before executing an attack.

Specifying a case, one source said that the military command knowingly approved an operation to assassinate a single top Hamas military commander – resulting in the deaths of hundreds of Palestinian civilians.

Another source said that the decision-making extends to civilian casualties, emphasising that nothing happens by accident.

The investigation by the +972 Magazine suggests that the widespread use of the "Habsora" ("The Gospel") system, primarily built on AI, also contributed to the high number of targets and extensive harm to civilian life in Gaza.

'The Gospel' and its role in Gaza

Described as a "mass assassination factory," this AI system can generate targets almost automatically at a rate exceeding previous capabilities.

It also enables the army to conduct extensive strikes on residential homes, even targeting those who are junior Hamas operatives.

Palestinian testimonies suggest that since October 7, the army has also attacked private residences without known or apparent Hamas members. These strikes, as confirmed by sources, knowingly result in the death of entire families.

A senior intelligence officer reportedly emphasised the goal of "killing as many Hamas operatives as possible" after October 7, relaxing criteria around civilian harm. This has led to shelling based on broad cellular pinpointing – resulting in civilian casualties – to save time rather than investing in more accurate targeting.

The outcome of these policies is a staggering loss of human life in Gaza since October 7. Over 300 families have lost ten or more members in Israeli bombings in the past two months — a figure 15 times higher than in Israel's previous deadliest war on Gaza in 2014.

"All of this is happening contrary to the protocol used by the IDF in the past," one source quoted by +972 Magazine.

"There is a feeling that senior officials in the army are aware of their failure on October 7 and are busy with the question of how to provide the Israeli public with an image [of victory] that will salvage their reputation."

What forms of data are fed into the Gospel is not yet known. Still, it typically involves analysing extensive information from various channels, including drone footage, intercepted communications, surveillance data, and details obtained from monitoring individual and group movements and behaviour patterns.

An official involved in previous Gaza operations' targeting decisions said that the IDF hadn't previously bombed the homes of junior Hamas members. However, they believe this approach has changed in the current conflict, with suspected Hamas operatives' houses targeted irrespective of rank.

"Hamas members who don't really mean anything live in homes across Gaza. So they mark the home and bomb the house and kill everyone there," the official told +972/Local Call.

Type of targets

According to sources speaking to +972 and Local Call, Israeli aircraft have targeted Gaza in roughly four categories. The first includes "tactical targets," such as standard military objectives like armed militant cells, weapon warehouses, rocket launchers, anti-tank missile launchers, launch pits, mortar bombs, military headquarters, and observation posts.

The second category is "underground targets," mainly tunnels dug by Hamas under Gaza's neighbourhoods, including beneath civilian homes. Aerial strikes on these targets can lead to the collapse of homes above or near the tunnels.

The third category, "power targets," involves high-rises, residential towers, and public buildings like universities, banks, and government offices in city centres.

Three intelligence sources suggest that targeting these structures aims to exert "civil pressure" on Hamas by deliberately attacking Palestinian society.

The final category comprises "family homes" or "operatives' homes." The stated purpose is to destroy private residences to assassinate a single resident suspected of being a Hamas or the Islamic Jihad group's operative.

"Hamas is everywhere in Gaza; there is no building that does not have something of Hamas in it, so if you want to find a way to turn a high-rise into a target, you will be able to do so," said one former intelligence official.

"They will never just hit a high-rise that does not have something we can define as a military target," said another intelligence source, who carried out previous strikes against power targets.

"There will always be a floor in the high-rise [associated with Hamas]. But for the most part, when it comes to power targets, it is clear that the target doesn't have a military value that justifies an attack that would bring down the entire empty building in the middle of a city with the help of six planes and bombs weighing several tons."

However, Palestinian testimonies in the current war indicate that some families killed did not include any operatives from these organisations.

As of November 10, the IDF Spokesperson reported that Israel had attacked a total of 15,000 targets in Gaza during the first 35 days of the current conflict.

This figure is notably higher than in the four previous major operations in the besieged enclave: Guardian of the Walls in 2021 (1,500 targets in 11 days), Protective Edge in 2014 (between 5,266 and 6,231 targets in 51 days), Pillar of Defense in 2012 (about 1,500 targets in eight days), and Cast Lead in 2008 (3,400 targets in 22 days).

As Israeli commanders receive lists of targets generated by AI tools like the Gospel, the opacity of the method raises concerns: increasing dependence on AI may turn humans into mere components in a mechanised process, jeopardising their ability to assess the impact on civilian lives effectively.