222 days have passed since the occupation forces began their aggression against the Gaza Strip, during which thousands of civilians from the Strip were martyred, in addition to a massive wave of destruction that turned the Strip into a barren land in which it is difficult to live. Although Israel is accustomed to using modern technologies in its military efforts, it has addressed To many unique technologies in this particular war, technologies that contributed to increasing the resulting damage and destruction.
The techniques that were used varied, as did the goals and results of this use. Some of them were defensive techniques, as claimed by representatives of the occupation army, while others were intended to directly attack citizens in the Gaza Strip.
These technologies differ from the usual weapons technologies available to Israel, such as guided missiles or tanks that rely on artificial intelligence and the Iron Dome, as these technologies existed before the start of the recent war.
The overwhelming presence of artificial intelligence
Artificial intelligence settled in the middle of Israel’s efforts in the war on the Gaza Strip, by integrating it into the middle of its operations and attaching it to the various weapons that relied on it to enhance the performance of soldiers. At the forefront of these weapons was the Eitan APC tank, which relies on a constellation of Sensors capable of constantly monitoring its surroundings and alerting soldiers inside.
Several Israeli armored vehicles also received the “Trophy Active Protection System” produced by Rafael early this year, and it also works to protect the armored vehicle by monitoring its surroundings and sending alerts.
The greatest role played by artificial intelligence was through the use of drones that played a role in mapping the tunnels used by the resistance in surprise attacks, the same attacks that were able to overcome the artificial intelligence systems integrated into armor.
“In general, the war in Gaza has many threats and obstacles, but it also provides us with opportunities to test emerging technologies in the military field.” This is how Avi Hasson, CEO of the Israeli business incubator Nation Central, described it during his recent interview with Agence France-Presse, and he followed his words by saying: “This war is witnessing the use of many technologies for the first time in history.”
Israel was not the only one that benefited from artificial intelligence technologies and remote drones, as Hamas also relied on them to resist the Israeli invasion and direct many harsh strikes, the most important of which was the attack of last October 7, which was able to penetrate the famous Iron Dome, in addition to… Numerous attacks on Israeli armored vehicles and soldiers.
WhatsApp to set goals accurately
Perhaps the occupation army’s use of the famous “WhatsApp” social networking application was one of the most prominent Israeli attack techniques, as the army was able, by accessing “WhatsApp” messages and its location feature, to know the location of the person using it to begin the targeting system through artificial intelligence called “Lavender.” Directing strikes on these homes.
Of course, WhatsApp management denied this use, stressing that it is a neutral tool and that it did not participate in any way in the war, but several reports indicate this use, including a report by Paul Biggar from the Tech For Palestine website. .
Many human rights organizations have condemned the use of “WhatsApp” to target civilians in Palestine, because it does not differentiate between a child, an elderly person, or a fighter, in addition to the danger of leaking confidential data from the platform despite its continuous claim that it is a free platform that protects users’ data.
An active role for “meta”
The WhatsApp platform is owned by the former Meta-Facebook company, and despite the platform’s repeated attempts to emphasize its neutrality, it has taken the Israeli side and become its media arm for the sake of media blackout and publishing many false news.
Meta took several steps to ensure that the case would not spread on its platform or support the cause, by stopping access to publications that talked about the case and war crimes in the Gaza Strip.
The company was not satisfied with that, as it expanded its role to ban any user who refers to the war on the sector, even if it is an indirect reference, through all of the company’s platforms, including “Facebook” and “Instagram.”
Users and content creators have found solutions to circumvent and overcome “meta” algorithms, by placing dots between letters or removing dots from sentences completely, so that they become unreadable to machines but easily readable to humans.
Geographical Positioning Systems (GPS) deception
Israel then intended to better protect its citizens by using a global system to deceive the GPS network, making its sensitive facilities, users, and aircraft appear within the borders of Lebanon, far from their real location in Israel.
Todd Humphreys – a professor at the University of Texas Aeronautical Engineering – believes that using GPS deception techniques instead of completely jamming it is something unprecedented and no country has used it before, in addition to being an allied country of the United States of America. He pointed out that Russia It took a similar path by completely jamming network signals in Ukraine, but it did not live up to what Israel did.
Efforts in vain
The occupation army’s arsenal abounds with many technical weapons capable of quickly deterring resistance, or so its leaders thought. Gaza Strip fighters proved, by using techniques more primitive and simple than their Israeli counterparts, that they are an obstacle that cannot be easily overcome, regardless of the techniques used.
Despite Meta’s continuous attempts to suppress news and media blackout, this was not enough to prevent information from reaching all countries of the world and even American universities, which recently witnessed a wave of protests against war crimes committed in Gaza.
