Israel’s AI gun system senses threat; tracks, shoots Palestinians at checkpoint: A disaster waiting to happen

Even as the social media and human rights activists continue to raise their voice and awareness against violations by Israel, the country installed yet another AI powered surveillance system against Palestine.

Last week, the Israeli occupation forces installed a new Artificial Intelligence-powered, remote-controlled gun at a checkpoint in the in the occupied South West Bank city of Hebron. The system, reportedly, senses, tracks and shoots at Palestinians who are perceived to be a threat.

Israeli media outlet Haaretz, quoted a spokesperson for the Israeli occupation army as saying, “that their army is examining the possibility of using remotely controlled systems for the employment of approved measures of crowd dispersal [which] does not include remote control of live gunfire.”

He added, “The system was placed in the centre of a heavily populated area, with hundreds of people passing by. Any failure of this technology could have an impact on many people. I see that as part of the transition from human to technological control. We Palestinians have become an object for training the high tech-industry of the Israeli army, which is not held to account for what it does.”

It further stated that Palestinians in the Old City of Hebron are harassed on a daily basis by illegal settlers and occupation soldiers whose final objective is to achieve Jews-only settlements in the region.

The move has come in for sharp criticism not just from political watchdogs across the world, but those who strongly raise concerns over the risks involved in the failure of AI technology.

The surveillance system has been manufactured by Israeli company Sharp Shooter, under which the gun fires stun grenades and sponge-tipped bullets, and is also capable of firing tear gas. The system is currently being pilot tested at Al-Shuhada checkpoint.

Israel’s surveillance ecosystem

This is not the first time that Israel’s defence industry and surveillance system has come in under the scanner or criticism. Israel’s surveillance and facial recognition technology is said to be among the world’s most advanced. The news comes only a short while after the reports said that Google was providing AI technology to Israeli government through the controversial “Project Nimbus.”