The Israeli military’s use of artificial intelligence to track targets of its attacks in Gaza is causing severe harm to civilians and raising serious ethical and legal concerns, Human Rights Watch said.
According to the organization, all the digital tools used by the Israeli army rely on incorrect data and inaccurate approximations, noting that this contradicts Israel’s obligations under international humanitarian law, especially the rules of distinction and precaution.
The organization stated that the Israeli army “uses incomplete data, flawed calculations and inappropriate tools to help make life-or-death decisions in Gaza, which may increase the harm to civilians.”
She added that the problems inherent in the design and use of these tools mean that, rather than reducing harm to civilians, their use may lead to the unlawful killing and injury of civilians.
Israeli technical tools include ongoing and systematic surveillance of the Palestinian population in Gaza, including the collection of data prior to the current hostilities in a manner that contravenes international human rights law.
To assess the tools used by the Israeli military in the hostilities in Gaza since October 7, 2023, Human Rights Watch relied on public statements by Israeli officials, previously unreported material published by the Israeli military, media reports, and interviews with experts and journalists.
These tools include: a tool that relies on cellphone tracking to monitor the eviction of Palestinians; a tool called “The Gospel” that lists buildings or other structural targets to attack; a tool called “Lavender” that profiles people in Gaza for suspected affiliation with Palestinian militant groups in order to designate them as military targets; and a tool called “Where’s Daddy?” that purports to determine when a target is in a specific location—often his or her family’s supposed residence—in order to attack him or her there.
The organization concluded that these technical tools are not accurate enough to provide information for military decisions that could result in severe harm to civilians.
She stressed that “the use of defective technology in any context may have negative effects on human rights, but the risks in Gaza outweigh any other context.”
Over the past 10 months in Gaza, more than 40,000 people have been killed and 94,000 wounded by Israeli forces, according to the Gaza Health Ministry. More than 70 percent of civilian infrastructure and more than 60 percent of civilian homes have been destroyed or severely damaged.