It has been controversially accused that Israel has sanctioned a ‘free-for-all’ of killings in the current Gaza conflict, which reportedly kicked off under “Operation Iron Swords,” radically departing from past protocols that required the identities to be verified thoroughly before targeting.

After the October 7 Hamas-led attack on the communities in southern Israel, part of an assault that killed some 1,200 and abducted 240, the Israeli military began to take a far more hard-line approach. The shift in policy effectively marked all Hamas operatives as legitimate targets, regardless of their rank or function within the organization. The policy shift opened the door for using AI technology in the form of a system called “Lavender” to identify and automatically target individuals.

Developed by Israel’s Unit 8200, Lavender Cherry uses mass surveillance data to assign likelihood scores to Gaza’s residents as to whether they are likely to be part of Hamas or the more militant Palestinian Islamic Jihad. Tens of thousands of suspected militants are now on the target list, something the use of AI has quickened—a development effectively sidelining human judgment in many cases. According to sources, this system has marked some 37,000 Palestinians as potential targets, significantly increasing the scope of military operations in the region.

The humanitarian cost has been severe. Several reports have emerged of over 15,000 Palestinians killed in the first six weeks of the war, with the extent of the bombing often relatively indiscriminate. AI targeting raises severe ethical and legal questions about the accuracy and accountability of those automatic decisions​​​​.

International reactions have been sharply divided. While the U.S. Secretary of State, Antony Blinken, did reaffirm the right of Israel to self-defense against terrorism, he proved equally insistent on making sure that the Palestinian civilians were safeguarded and Gazans continued to get serviced with humanitarian assistance. To some, this general targeting policy from the UN is nothing less than collective punishment, which is now banned under international humanitarian law. The UN Secretary-General, António Guterres, called for an immediate humanitarian ceasefire and drew attention to the devastating humanitarian crisis currently unfolding in Gaza.

The approach of the Israeli government has been highly debated and controversial. Proponents argue that this is the only way to have any natural effect on combating terrorism and preserving the lives of Israeli citizens. The other camp, however, responds that the indiscriminate nature of the attacks and the unidentified use of AI for the identification of targets compromise ethical standards and human rights, possibly amounting to war crimes.

The international community is getting increasingly worried about the escalation of violence and humanitarian consequences. Now, there are calls for the restoration of a truce and the resumption of negotiations, which more than ever call for a solution respectful of the rights and lives of all populations concerned.