Washington: We review reports of Israel’s use of artificial intelligence to bomb its targets in Gaza

John Kirby, White House national security spokesman, said in an interview with CNN on Thursday that the United States is reviewing a media report that the Israeli military is using artificial intelligence to help determine the targets it is bombing in Gaza.

Kirby explained in the interview that the United States had not verified the content of the report published on the “+972 Magazine” and “Local Call” websites on Wednesday, which stated that Israeli intelligence officials were using a program known as “Lavender.”

The media report stated that the Israeli army classified tens of thousands of Gazans as suspects using an artificial intelligence system and without significant human review.

Israeli denial

The Israeli army denied using artificial intelligence to identify wanted persons and suspected targets.

The Israeli army said in a statement: “The army does not use any artificial intelligence system to identify terrorist activists or to attempt to predict whether a person is a terrorist or not. Information systems are merely tools for analysts in the process of identifying the target.”

The statement added that the army’s directives assign analysts to conduct independent audits in which they verify that the identified targets meet relevant standards in line with international law and Israeli guidelines.

Separately, Kirby was also asked in the interview about a report by Axios, which stated that the Israeli Ministerial Council for Security Affairs agreed to open the Erez crossing with Gaza to allow the entry of more humanitarian aid.

Kirby responded by saying that if this report is correct, then this news is welcome and “certainly consistent” with what Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu told US President Joe Biden in their phone call on Thursday.

Biden’s threats

The White House said that Biden threatened in the call to link support for the Israeli attack on Gaza with taking concrete steps to protect aid workers and civilians.

The war broke out on October 7, following an unprecedented attack carried out by Hamas on southern Israel, killing 1,170 people, most of them civilians, according to official Israeli figures.

During the attack, about 250 people were kidnapped, 130 of whom are still captive in Gaza, and 34 of them are believed to have died, according to official Israeli estimates.

The Hamas Ministry of Health announced that the death toll in the Gaza Strip had risen to 33,037 people, the majority of whom were women and children, since the start of the war.