Israel Is Making A Profit From New AI Weapons Used In Gaza

War is profitable for Israel; after ICJ ruling, Israel has failed to change course; “Iron Lady” doctor dodges Israeli sniper bullets to rescue sniper victim; Israeli bombardment reportedly killed 2 Israeli captives, seriously wounded 8; reports on Israel’s possible plans for Rafah invasion; UN Special Rapporteur Francesca Albanese says Oct. 7th was not an antisemitic attack, but a “response to Israel’s oppression.”

By If Americans Knew staff, from reports

AFP reports: Israel’s army has deployed some AI-enabled military technology in combat for the first time in Gaza, raising fears about the use of autonomous weapons in modern warfare. The army has hinted at what the new tech is being used for, with spokesman Daniel Hagari saying last month that Israel’s forces were operating “above and underground simultaneously”.

A senior defense official told AFP the tech was destroying enemy drones and mapping Hamas’s vast tunnel network in Gaza.

New defense technologies including artificial intelligence-powered gunsights and robotic drones form a bright spot in an otherwise dire period for Israel’s tech industry.

“In general the war in Gaza presents threats, but also opportunities to test emerging technologies in the field,” said Avi Hasson, chief executive of Startup Nation Central, an Israeli tech incubator.

“Both on the battlefield and in the hospitals there are technologies that have been used in this war that have not been used in the past.” (Read the full article here.)

RECOMMENDED READING (Al Jazeera): Dirty secret of Israel’s weapons exports: They’re tested on Palestinians

Israel's army has deployed some AI-enabled military tech in the war in Gaza — Israel’s army has deployed some AI-enabled military tech in the war in Gaza

Al Jazeera reports: Israel continues to commit crimes 15 days after an International Court of Justice ruling on genocide in Gaza, says Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor.

The Israeli army continues to carry out systematic and widespread destruction of residential areas and neighborhoods, civilian infrastructure and facilities, the rights group said.

Euro-Med said Israeli forces have killed 1,864 Palestinians, including 690 children and 441 women, in addition to injuring more than 2,933 people since the court’s ruling last month.

“Thus, Israel continues to violate its international obligations and the decision of the highest court in the world by committing the crime of all crimes – the crime of genocide,” the group said.

ICJ said Israel must prevent genocidal acts in its war with Hamas and allow aid into Gaza.

The Palestinian Red Crescent said the Israeli army targeted the main gate of Al-Amal Hospital in Khan Younis, causing damage to the building and putting the hospital’s only remaining ambulance out of service.

Fire burns at a destroyed house after Israeli attacks in Khan Younis

The New Arab reports: A Palestinian doctor has been commended for her bravery after she risked her life to save a wounded man outside a hospital in the southern Gaza Strip, with a video of her heroic act going viral on Saturday.

The video shows the moment the unhesitant Amira al-Assouli takes off her coat, ducks underneath gunfire and rushes to help a man supposedly hit by a bullet outside the Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, which has been under a brutal siege by Israeli forces.

“Khan Younis’ hero” and “the iron lady” were only some terms used to describe the doctor, who was said to have returned to Gaza from Egypt when the war started on October 7.

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Middle East Eye reports: Hamas’s armed wing, al-Qassam Brigades, said Israeli air strikes across Gaza in the past 96 hours killed two Israeli captives and seriously wounded eight others.

“Their conditions are becoming more dangerous in light of the inability to provide them with appropriate treatment. The enemy (Israel) bears full responsibility for the lives of those injured in light of their continued bombing,” the statement said.

Middle East Eye could not independently verify the claim.

Palestinians walk through the ruins of Gaza City, Saturday

Al Jazeera’s Hamda Salhut reports from East Jerusalem: There is no indication that pressure from the United States and international organizations is going to have any sway on Benjamin Netanyahu’s plans for the invasion of Rafah.

According to reports within Israeli media, Netanyahu has said to his war cabinet that he believes due to the international pressure, they’ll have around one month to wrap up that operation. So that means the start, the middle, and the end, and he says before the Muslim holy month of Ramadan, which is set to begin on March 10.

So the army chief of staff has said that they are ready to operate in Rafah, but they’re waiting for an answer from the government on how to evacuate 1.4 million Palestinians.

The Wall Street Journal reports that Egypt has warned Hamas that if it does not reach an agreement with Israel within two weeks, the IDF will operate in Rafah.

WEST BANK: Al Jazeera reports: Our colleagues at Al Jazeera Arabic and the Wafa news agency are reporting that Muhammad Ahmad Muhammad Khadour, a resident of the town of Biddu, north of West Jerusalem, has died.

Just 19 years old, he was shot in the head by Israeli soldiers while in a vehicle in Kharb al-Lahm, before being rushed to the Palestine Medical Complex in Ramallah. He died of his wounds there.

STATISTICS OCTOBER 7 – FEBRUARY 10:

Palestinian death toll from October 7 – February 10: at least 28,337* (28,176 in Gaza* (over 11,000 children, 7,500 women), and at least 390 in the West Bank (101 children). This does not include an estimated 8,000 more still buried under rubble (70% women and children). Euro-Med Monitor reports 35,096 Palestinian deaths.

About 1.7 million, or 75% of Gaza’s population are currently displaced.

Palestinian injuries from October 7 – February 10: at least 71,767** (including at least 67,784 in Gaza and 4,450 in the West Bank).

It remains unknown how many Americans are among the casualties in Gaza.

Reported Israeli death toll from October 7 – February 10: ~1,374 (~1,139 on October 7, 2023, of which ~574 were civilians, 373 or 337 were security and/or military forces, ~32 were Americans, and ~36 were children); 225 military forces since the ground invasion began in Gaza;, 10 in the West Bank) and~8,730 injured.

NBC reports: “According to the latest available IDF data… nearly 1 in 5, or 17%, of all Israel’s losses have come not at the hands of Hamas but from mishaps on its own side.”

NOTE: It is unknown at this time how many of the deaths and injuries in Israel on October 7 were caused by Israeli soldiers.

*Previously, IAK did not include 471 Gazans killed in the Al Ahli hospital blast since the source of the projectile was being disputed. However, given that much evidence points to Israel as the culprit, Israel had previously bombed the hospital and has attacked many others, Israel is prohibiting outside experts from investigating the scene, and since the UN and other agencies are including the deaths from the attack in their cumulative totals, if Americans knew is now also doing so.

Find previous daily casualty figures and daily news updates here.

For more news, go here and here. Broadcast news from the region is here.

Hover over each bar for exact numbers.
Source: IsraelPalestineTimeline.org