The nature of warfare has been dramatically reshaped by the evolution of modern weapons, converting it from traditional battlefield skirmishes to technology-laced conflicts. This dramatic shift has been evident in various recent wars and events of escalation and de-escalation on battlefields. In the case of Israel, historically, it has resorted to extreme measures in war against Palestine. In 1948, Israeli forces reportedly attempted to poison Palestinian villages’ water wells in a biological warfare campaign to drive out inhabitants.[1] In recent Gaza conflicts, human rights groups have documented the use of incendiary munitions like white phosphorus, a weapon that causes brutal burns and is heavily restricted under the laws of war.[2] Today, however, the pattern has changed. Instead of banned chemicals or mass firepower alone, Israel’s military strategy now hinges on data and algorithms. Human Rights Watch notes that the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) increasingly rely on “surveillance technologies (facial recognition), Artificial Intelligence (AI), and other digital tools” to determine who or what to attack in Gaza. One intelligent officer originally described the process to an Israeli-based +972 Magazine: the new system, dubbed Lavender, was trained on existing intelligence to score every Gazan on the likelihood of being a militant.[3] The Gospel and Where’s Daddy serve to locate the militants’ infrastructure and the locations of militants, respectively.[4] This represents a profound shift from “drums and gas” and conventional bombs to algorithms and surveillance.
