The key facts
- The ImiSight AI system helped survey about 10,735 sq km in 2024; around 495 enforcement proceedings were opened
- The Lavender system, per a +972 Magazine investigation, marked up to 37,000 Palestinians as targets; officers described checks taking about 20 seconds
- Microsoft in September 2025 partially confirmed the use of Azure by an Israeli unit and disabled the relevant services
AI control of land and construction
According to Anadolu, Israeli authorities use the AI tool ImiSight to detect changes in buildings and land via satellite imagery, drones and aerial photography, in order to find structures deemed ‘illegal’. The system was initially used in the Negev (Naqab) desert, where Palestinian Bedouins — citizens of Israel — face building restrictions and demolitions, and was later, according to reports, deployed in the occupied West Bank. Israeli media in January 2025, citing the Israel Land Authority, reported that ImiSight helped survey about 10,735 sq km in 2024; around 495 enforcement proceedings were opened. In March 2025 the company said its technology had reduced enforcement delays. AI professor at Hamad Bin Khalifa University Mustafa Jarrar called what is happening ‘apartheid automation’, noting that AI now not only collects and analyzes data but can also ‘issue orders’. Researcher Jalal Abukhater (digital rights organization 7amleh) estimated that the number of demolitions has doubled since such systems were introduced.
Demolitions and restrictions in the West Bank
According to UN OCHA, by the September 2026 reporting, more than 1,100 structures had been demolished in the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, and more than 1,500 Palestinians displaced. The annual average number of demolitions in Area C due to lack of permits rose by roughly 80% — from 537 in 2010–2022 to 966 in 2023–2025. Area C covers about 60% of the West Bank and remains under full Israeli control; Palestinians face serious restrictions in obtaining building permits. In April 2025, an enforcement unit of the Israel Land Authority was created in the West Bank; the Israeli human rights group Peace Now called this a step toward annexation, and the UN warned of intensified discriminatory enforcement and displacement of Palestinians.
Facial recognition and surveillance
Amnesty International in its May 2023 report documented the Red Wolf facial recognition system at military checkpoints in Hebron: it scans Palestinians’ faces without their consent and cross-checks them against biometric databases, determining whether they can pass through the checkpoint. The Blue Wolf app and the Wolf Pack database were also documented. Amnesty noted that the systems intensify restrictions on freedom of movement, especially in Hebron’s H2 area, and undermine privacy and political activity in East Jerusalem. Abukhater said soldiers photograph Palestinians at checkpoints and during night raids, including children, and, according to him, they are given targets to ‘photograph 100 Palestinians a day’. Jarrar added that data from cameras, smartphones and vehicle identification systems are combined into detailed profiles, with AI detecting unusual movement routes and ‘sounding the alarm’; he also said Israeli forces hack Palestinians’ private cameras.
From surveillance to military targeting in Gaza
An investigation by +972 Magazine and Local Call (April 2024), based on interviews with six Israeli intelligence officers, reported that the Lavender system marked suspects as potential bombing targets — up to 37,000 Palestinians in the early stages of the war. One source described personnel as a ‘rubber stamp’ that sometimes spent about ‘20 seconds’ verifying a target. The investigation also revealed the Where’s Daddy? system, which tracks when targets are at home; according to the NAZA documentary, the phrase ‘daddy’s home’ can become a trigger for a strike. Jarrar called this process ‘machine killing’ and warned that Israel ‘is a model’, pushing other countries toward similar uses of AI.
The role of tech companies
Microsoft came under scrutiny in 2025 after The Guardian reported that a unit of Israeli military intelligence had used the Azure cloud platform to store recordings of Palestinians’ phone calls collected in Gaza and the West Bank. On September 25, 2025, Microsoft said its review had confirmed part of the reports, including the use of Azure storage in the Netherlands and AI services; the company disabled the relevant services for the Israeli defense ministry unit, citing a prohibition on mass surveillance of civilians in its terms of service. Abukhater called this ‘direct complicity of private companies with Israeli state structures’ and called for accountability. Jarrar called for new international law on the use of AI for automated killings.
