Israel uses AI system "Lavender" to target Palestinians
Kenneth Roth, a Guardian US columnist and former Human Rights Watch executive, argues that Israel has already deployed AI to decide who lives and dies in Gaza. After the Hamas attack on 7 October 2023, the Israeli military used an AI system called “Lavender” to identify phone patterns linked to Hamas operatives. Targets flagged by the system were then routed through intelligence officers for…
Key points
- Israel used AI system "Lavender" to identify Hamas targets after Oct 7 attack
- About 10% of AI‑selected targets were civilians, with a 20‑to‑one casualty ratio
- 128 governments met in Geneva to draft a treaty on autonomous weapons, watered down by Trump‑Putin lawyers
Roth points out that about 10 % of the AI‑selected targets were not members of Hamas, and that the military accepted a 20‑to‑one civilian‑to‑combatant casualty ratio. He also highlights that 128 governments met in Geneva in early September to draft a treaty on autonomous weapons, but lawyers sent by Donald Trump and Vladimir Putin watered down provisions that would have required human review of AI‑generated targets. The piece warns that the current “human‑in‑the‑loop” model is nominal and that unchecked AI targeting risks war crimes and erodes accountability.
The story so far
2 episodes →- Israel uses AI system "Lavender" to target Palestiniansthis story
AI weapons systems are already here. Algorithms must not decide who lives and dies
The Guardian AI · 2 October 2026
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This text was published by The Guardian AI and written by Kenneth Roth. It is reproduced here with attribution so you can read it in full; the rights remain with the publisher. Read it at the source ↗
The headline, key points and digest above were generated by Digest AI's editorial model from the linked sources. Automated summaries can contain errors: the sources are the record. Spotted a mistake? Tell us. Published by Martin K., who runs Digest AI and handles corrections.
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