AP Photo/Fatima Shbair
- Israel has reportedly been using an AI-based program called Lavender to identify targets in Gaza.
- The claim is part of a +972 Magazine and Local Call report that cites six Israeli officers.
- The IDF reportedly treated AI output as human decisions, requiring a mere 20-second check.
Israel has reportedly been using artificial intelligence to help identify targets in Gaza.
A joint report by +972 Magazine, a Tel Aviv-based outlet, and Local Call said the Israeli army has been relying heavily on an AI-based program known as Lavender to mark Gazans as suspects for assassination.
During the first weeks of the Hamas-Israeli war, the Israeli military almost entirely relied on Lavender to identify targets, the report said, citing six Israeli intelligence officers with firsthand involvement in the use of the program.
Israeli forces reportedly treated the output generated by the AI system "as if it were a human decision," despite knowing the system occasionally marked individuals who have a loose or nonexistent connection to militant groups. The system was also known to make "errors" in about 10% of cases, the report said.
One source told the outlet that human operatives acted as "rubber stamps" for target approval, often allocating around 20 seconds to check the targets before bombings. Checks were often just done to ensure targets were male, the report added.
The Lavender system identified up to 37,000 Palestinians as suspected "Hamas militants," four of the intelligence sources told +972 Magazine and Local Call. An IDF spokesperson denied the existence of a kill list in a statement to +972 and Local Call.
In a lengthy statement, representatives for the IDF told Business Insider the report was "misleading and has numerous false claims"
They said: "Analysts must conduct independent examinations, in which they verify that the identified targets meet the relevant definitions in accordance with international law and additional restrictions stipulated in the IDF directives."
They said the system referenced in the report was "a database whose purpose is to cross-reference intelligence sources, in order to produce up-to-date layers of information on the military operatives of terrorist organizations."
The report comes amid increased scrutiny over Israel's conduct in the war. On Monday, seven members of the international nonprofit World Central Kitchen were killed after an Israeli strike hit their convoy.
Since the beginning of the conflict, more than 30,000 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza, its health ministry has said. Foreign aid workers and journalists also have been killed by Israeli strikes.