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Fight-to-finish: Israel Deploys New Military AI In Gaza War

Published

3 months ago

February 10, 2024

Editor

Israel’s army has deployed some AI-enabled military technology in combat for the first time in Gaza, raising fears about the use of autonomous weapons in modern warfare.

The army has hinted at what the new tech is being used for, with spokesman Daniel Hagari saying last month that Israel’s forces were operating “above and underground simultaneously”.

A senior defence official told AFP the tech was destroying enemy drones and mapping Hamas’s vast tunnel network in Gaza.

New defence technologies including artificial intelligence-powered gunsights and robotic drones form a bright spot in an otherwise dire period for Israel’s tech industry.

The sector accounted for 18 percent of GDP in 2022, but the war in Gaza has wreaked havoc with an estimated eight percent of its workforce called up to fight.

“In general the war in Gaza presents threats, but also opportunities to test emerging technologies in the field,” said Avi Hasson, chief executive of Startup Nation Central, an Israeli tech incubator.

“Both on the battlefield and in the hospitals there are technologies that have been used in this war that have not been used in the past.”

But the rising civilian death toll shows that much greater oversight is needed over the use of new forms of defence tech, Mary Wareham, an arms expert at Human Rights Watch, told AFP.

“Now we’re facing the worst possible situation of death and suffering that we’re seeing today –- some of that is being brought about by the new tech,” she said.

More than 150 countries in December backed a UN resolution identifying “serious challenges and concerns” in new military tech, including “artificial intelligence and autonomy in weapons systems.”

– ‘Angry Birds’ –

Hamas on October 7 launched an unprecedented attack on Israel, resulting in the deaths of about 1,160 people in Israel, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official figures.

Hamas also seized around 250 hostages, and Israel says some 132 remain in Gaza including at least 29 believed to have been killed.

Israel’s military response has killed nearly 28,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, according to the Hamas-ruled territory’s health ministry.

Like many other modern conflicts, the war has been shaped by a proliferation of inexpensive unmanned aerial vehicles (UAVs), also known as drones, which have made attacks from the air easier and cheaper.

Hamas used them to drop explosives on October 7, while Israel has turned to new tech to shoot them down.

In a first, the army has used an AI-enabled optic sight, made by Israeli startup Smart Shooter, which is attached to weapons such as rifles and machine guns.

“It helps our soldiers to intercept drones because Hamas uses a lot of drones,” said the senior defence official.

“It makes every regular soldier — even a blind soldier — a sniper.”

Another system to neutralise drones involves deploying a friendly drone with a net that it can throw around the enemy craft to neutralise it.

“It’s drone versus drone — we call it Angry Birds,” the official said.

– Hamas tunnels –

A pillar of Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s vow to “destroy” Hamas is quickly mapping the underground tunnel network where Israel says the group’s fighters are hiding and holding hostages.

The network is so vast that the army has dubbed it the “Gaza Metro” and a recent study by US military academy West Point said there were 1,300 tunnels stretching over 500 kilometres (310 miles).

To map the tunnels the army has turned to drones that use AI to learn to detect humans and can operate underground, including one made by Israel startup Robotican that encases a drone inside a robotic case.

It is being used in Gaza “to enter into tunnels and to see as far as the communication lets you,” the senior Israeli defence official said.

Before the war the technology did not allow drones to operate underground because of issues sending images to the surface, the official added.

The conflict has raised human rights concerns but also cemented Israel’s status as a world-leading manufacturer of cutting-edge defence systems.

The Wall Street Journal reported last month that the United States — Israel’s main international ally and provider of billions of dollars each year in military aid — was training its own soldiers to shoot down drones using Smart Shooter’s optic sights.

In late January, three US soldiers were killed in a drone attack on a base in Jordan.

News

Over 91,000 Vulnerable Persons benefiting from free basic Healthcare In Edo – Health Insurance Commission

Published

33 mins ago

May 8, 2024

Editor

The Director General, Edo State Health Insurance Commission (EDOHIC), Dr. Rock Amegor, has said over 102,000 vulnerable persons in the state are benefitting from the state’s Equity Fund and the Basic Healthcare Provision Fund (BHCPF).

Dr. Amegor disclosed this in Benin City during an event to commemorate two years of providing care to vulnerable groups under the Basic Health Care Provision Fund by the Commission.

The Fund is being managed by the Edo State Government in collaboration with the Federal Government to cater for the healthcare needs of vulnerable persons in the State.

He noted, “We are here to mark the two-year anniversary of providing healthcare services for the very vulnerable in our society. The State and Federal Governments have put funds aside to take care of those who are very vulnerable. We have classified the vulnerable into five groups: Those under five years of age, pregnant women, indigents, the poorest of the poorest and those above 65 years of age.”

According to him, “These vulnerable groups, as the Bible says, the poor have always been with us. It is what we started with to show the empathy of today’s government.

“We have other plans but in March 2022, we started giving service from only three facilities under the basic health care provision fund, and in that year, we had only enrolled 9,000 people into the scheme, but as of today, with the contribution of the State and Federal Government, we gave enrolled about 80,000 people into the Basic Health Care Provision Fund or the Equity Plan. Over 69,000 persons from the Basic Health Care Provision Fund, and another 22,000 persons from the State Equity.”

Amegor added, “They are complementing each other. The beauty about the Basic Health Care Provision Fund and the State Equity Plan is that there is no co-contribution from the enrollee or patients whenever they go to the hospital.

“Those within the rural and the semi-urban and urban areas, the likes of the Ward Development Committee or the officer-in-charge of the facilities and even the Enigies and the Odionwere of the societies, they know those who are vulnerable within them.

“They are given a number to register vulnerable people so that every month we get a target of at least 20/20 per facility to make sure those living in desolate areas, those even living in urban and rural areas can get access to health care whenever and wherever they need this health care.

“If you look at the statistics of enrollment and when we call out for programmes and outreach for people to participate in their health care service, Edo North had consistently come top and so, one of the statistics that the digital agency has also drawn out and has also contained what you have said is that Edo North has a very high health-seeking behaviour even when manpower deficit is the same across board.”

He restated, “What we are doing is using that statistics to inform those in other senatorial districts to improve their health-seeking behaviour because what that generates or what it relates to is that for those who have health-seeking behavior, they have more longevity, their life expectancy is better, their quality of life is better and ultimately their productivity is better.”

Also, the State Coordinator, NHIA, Theodore Ehanire, expressed satisfaction over the contribution of the state government in keeping with its mandate to provide continuous health care assistance to vulnerable people in the State, including people living with disabilities.

News

BREAKING: Rivers State House Of Assembly Gets New Speaker

Published

1 hour ago

May 8, 2024

Editor

The political crisis rocking Rivers State took a new dimension Wednesday evening as a new Speaker of the House of Assembly emerged.

It was gathered that Hon. Victor Oko Jumbo, a member loyal to Governor Sim Fubara, has been sworn in as the new Speaker.

More to come…

News

Nollywood Veterans React To Death The New Masquerade’ Actress, Ovularia

Published

2 hours ago

May 8, 2024

Editor

Nollywood actors and actresses have reacted to the death of Madam Elizabeth Evoeme, who starred as Ovularia in the 80s TV sitcom ‘The New Masquerade’, is dead.

Reacting to her death, veteran actor, Jide Kosoko wrote: “We lost another gem though at a ripe age. I pray the almighty God grants her soul a peaceful rest. We worked together on ‘The New Masquerade.’

“I was a guest artiste at the time. She was just fantastic. May her soul rest in peace and may God continue to keep us that are still alive.

“Her virtue of discipline that has to do with keeping to call time, submitting to the directors’ wish at all time and other professional ethics she stood for, should be emulated by all other actors.”

Adebayo Salami, popularly known as “Oga Bello,” described the death of the actress as shocking.

He said, “We are all getting older but no one wants to die. We are going to miss her but her legacies still remain with us. We love her but God loves her most.”

Actor Fred Amata also expressed shock over the death of the actress