The IDF (Israel Defence Force) says it “outright rejects” the claim that it is using an AI system to identify terrorists, under which it tolerates the killing of more than 100 civilians in order to successfully target each Hamas commander.

The left-wing Israeli news site +972 reported that the IDF is using an AI programme named “Lavender” to “generate” targets for assassination in Gaza, citing six Israeli intelligence officials.

Two of the sources said the IDF decided to accept the collateral damage of as many as 15 to 20 civilians killed for every junior Hamas operative the “Lavender”‘ programme could find.

This number supposedly grew to 100 civilians for a single commander in some incidents, while 37,000 Palestinians are said to have been identified as suspected militants to target with airstrikes.

Now Israel’s military has strongly denied the claims. “The IDF outright rejects the claim regarding any policy to kill tens of thousands of people in their homes,” it said in response to the reports.

It added that “Lavender” isn’t a system, “but simply a database whose purpose is to cross-reference intelligence sources, in order to produce up-to-date layers of information on the military operatives of terrorist organisations”.

The IDF statement continued: “This is not a list of confirmed military operatives eligible to attack… For each target, IDF procedures require conducting an individual assessment of the anticipated military advantage and collateral damage expected. 

“Such assessments are not made categorically in relation to the approval of individual strikes,” the army added.

The assessment of the collateral damage expected from a strike is based on a “variety of assessment methods and intelligence gathering measures, in order to achieve the most accurate assessment possible, considering the relevant operational circumstances”, the IDF said.

Israel has been criticised heavily during the six-month war with Hamas in Gaza due to the high civilian death toll. 

Rishi Sunak this week told Benjamin Netanyahu, Israel’s Prime Minister, that “far too many aid workers and ordinary civilians have lost their lives in Gaza and the situation is increasingly intolerable”.

Israel, however, says it is taking all precautions to avoid unnecessary civilian casualties, but Hamas’s use of civilian infrastructure is causing great challenges for its army.