Rights groups, researchers and journalists say Israel is using artificial intelligence to monitor Palestinian land, track movement at checkpoints and select targets in Gaza. Israel disputes parts of this reporting and denies accusations of apartheid. The evidence comes from several investigations published between 2023 and 2026, and the sources differ in how firmly they establish each claim.
In the West Bank, activists and Israeli media report that Israel uses ImiSight, a product of the defence company Rafael, to monitor large areas of land and spot changes that can justify demolitions. A July 2026 study by Digital Palestine, a research centre, found that Israeli authorities have used AI tools to monitor the West Bank since 2023.
According to a UN Secretary General report cited by Al Istiklal, Israel created a Land Authority unit in April 2025 to work in the West Bank and identify Palestinian construction it calls illegal. Researchers argue that these tools speed up enforcement. No source reviewed here shows that the software itself caused the rise in demolitions.
The rise is documented. The Israeli groups Peace Now and Kerem Navot recorded an 80 percent increase in demolitions in Area C and East Jerusalem between 2023 and 2025, compared with 2010 to 2022. The UN Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) reported that demolitions displaced about 1,500 Palestinians across the West Bank this year, as of 12 September.
OCHA’s statistics, updated on 6 October, count 15,095 Palestinian owned structures demolished in the West Bank since 2009. In one week in late September, demolitions displaced 147 people, more than three times the 2026 weekly average. OCHA says the permits Israel requires for building are nearly impossible for Palestinians to obtain.
Surveillance at checkpoints is better documented. In a May 2023 report, Amnesty International said Israeli forces use a facial recognition system called Red Wolf at checkpoints in Hebron, and that it is linked to the Blue Wolf and Wolf Pack systems. Amnesty says Red Wolf scans Palestinians’ faces without their knowledge or consent and compares them with databases that contain only Palestinians. Israel denies Amnesty’s apartheid accusation.
In Gaza, an April 2024 investigation by +972 Magazine and Local Call, based on Israeli intelligence sources, described an AI system called Lavender. The sources said Lavender flagged as many as 37,000 Palestinians as suspected militants during the first weeks of the war, and that one reviewer said they spent about 20 seconds on each target.
The report also described a system called “Where’s Daddy?” that signaled when targets entered their family homes. The Israeli military has disputed the report’s description of Lavender.
Technology companies have also faced scrutiny. In September 2025, Microsoft said its review found evidence supporting elements of The Guardian’s reporting that an Israeli military unit stored phone calls of Palestinians on Azure, and it disabled a set of services. Microsoft also said its review found no evidence that Azure was used to target or harm people, and an Israeli security official told the AP the move would not damage the military’s operations.
Legal experts and rights groups say international law has not caught up with these tools. They want global rules on automated targeting, biometric surveillance, data storage and corporate responsibility.
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