Palestinians fight for their lives and their stolen lands

[Anthea]

Israeli forces uses AI to monitor

Palestinian civilians

The Israeli occupation forces are working on an AI model that analyzes intercepted communications as experts voice the alarm over its flaws

An investigation by The Guardian, has revealed that the Israeli elite military intelligence unit, Unit 8200, has developed an advanced artificial intelligence (AI) system modeled after ChatGPT that seeks to enhance the Israeli occupation's surveillance capabilities.

The tool is trained on a vast collection of intercepted Palestinian phone calls and messages and will be used in the occupied Palestinian territories to make Israel's monitoring of civilians even more efficient and perhaps dystopic.

The AI model was designed to process and analyze spoken Arabic, drawing from extensive amounts of data gathered through the existing sweeping surveillance network. Intelligence officers reportedly use the system like a chatbot, asking questions about individuals under watch and receiving AI-generated insights based on intercepted communications.

Chaked Roger Joseph Sayedoff, a former Israeli military intelligence technologist, publicly acknowledged the project during a 2023 AI conference, stating that it required “psychotic amounts” of Arabic-language data, as reported by the aforementioned outlets.

Former intelligence officials have also confirmed the initiative, explaining that earlier machine learning models paved the way for this more sophisticated AI system.

A source familiar with the project emphasized the far-reaching implications of the technology, stating: “AI amplifies power. It’s not just about stopping attacks—I can track human rights activists, monitor Palestinian construction, and know what every person in the West Bank is doing.”

Behemoth amounts of data

The scale of data collection suggests Unit 8200 has amassed a vast archive of Palestinian communications, a practice that intelligence experts say amounts to blanket surveillance. Israeli and Western intelligence sources told investigators that the AI-driven monitoring system allows authorities to collect and process information on an unprecedented scale.

Human rights advocates warn that relying on AI for intelligence work carries serious risks. AI models, including large language models (LLMs), are prone to errors, biases, and misinterpretations.

Zach Campbell, a senior researcher at Human Rights Watch, expressed concern over how such a tool might be used against Palestinians: “It’s a guessing machine, and ultimately, these guesses can be used to incriminate people.”

When questioned about the AI project, an Israeli occupation forces (IOF) spokesperson said Israeli intelligence “employs various methods to identify and counter terrorist activity in the Middle East.”

One of many abusive AI models

AI-powered surveillance is not new to Unit 8200. The agency has previously developed tools such as The Gospel and Lavender, which played a crucial role in the Israeli occupation's military operations in Gaza. These systems helped identify targets for airstrikes, both individuals and structures, demonstrating the growing role of AI in military decision-making.

The idea for a ChatGPT-style AI system reportedly emerged after OpenAI launched its chatbot in 2022. Unit 8200 initially struggled to develop a comparable model and even attempted to collaborate with OpenAI, but the request was denied.

The project gained momentum after October 7's Operation al-Aqsa Flood, when reservists with AI expertise, including employees from Google, Meta, and Microsoft, were called back to military service to support the initiative.

Because existing AI language models were insufficient for intelligence work, Unit 8200 built its own system using vast amounts of intercepted Palestinian and Lebanese communications.

Sources say the goal was to centralize every Arabic conversation the unit had ever collected. Sayedoff, the former intelligence official, reportedly stated that the AI model was designed to focus on “dialects that hate us.”

Mass surveillance, increased arrests

The new AI model is believed to have enhanced Israeli intelligence operations, particularly in the West Bank, where it has facilitated mass surveillance and increased arrests. Intelligence sources explained that the AI helps flag individuals expressing anger toward the occupation or discussing possible attacks against Israeli forces and settlers.

AI in surveillance "allows us to act on the information of many more people, which means greater control over the population. When you hold so much information, you can use it for whatever purpose you want," a former Unit 8200 officer said.

Palestinian digital rights groups have condemned the use of AI-driven surveillance. Nadim Nashif, director of 7amleh, criticized the Israeli occupation for turning occupied Palestinians into “subjects in a military AI laboratory.” He argued that such technology enables deeper oppression and control, reinforcing the apartheid-like conditions Palestinians face.

Dangerous consequences

Experts warn that integrating AI into military intelligence without proper safeguards could have dangerous consequences. AI models frequently make errors, misinterpret intent, and generate misleading conclusions, which could lead to unjustified targeting and wrongful arrests.

Brianna Rosen, a former White House national security official, cautioned that while AI could help detect threats, it also creates a risk of false accusations and flawed decision-making. “Mistakes are inevitable, and some of these mistakes could be life-threatening,” she said.

Concerns about AI’s role in military operations were underscored by an Israeli airstrike in Gaza in November 2023, which reportedly killed four civilians, including three teenage girls. An investigation by the Associated Press found that AI may have influenced the intelligence officers’ decision to authorize the strike based on faulty analysis.

When asked how the IDF ensures accuracy and fairness in AI-based intelligence, military officials refused to disclose details. However, an IOF spokesperson insisted that “every use of technology follows a meticulous process and involves human oversight.”

Global concerns

The Israeli occupation's aggressive deployment of AI-driven intelligence appears to push boundaries further than its Western allies, experts say.

A former Western intelligence chief stated that the breadth of Palestinian surveillance enabled by AI would not be acceptable in countries with stricter oversight on intelligence operations.

While AI tools are being adopted by intelligence agencies worldwide—including the CIA’s AI-powered open-source monitoring system—the Israeli regime's approach differs in its broad application of AI for mass surveillance and military targeting.

Human rights groups warn that using highly personal, intercepted communications to train AI is not only invasive but also a violation of privacy and international law.

Campbell, from Human Rights Watch, criticized the occupation's AI surveillance program, stating: “This is personal data from people who are not even suspected of crimes, being used to train a system that can then determine who should be suspected.”

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[Anthea]

Israel violates Gaza ceasefire again

Israel is escalating its attacks on Gaza and tightening its ban on humanitarian aid entering the enclave, violating the ceasefire deal which went into effect on 19 January

Several Palestinians were martyred, and others were injured in an Israeli drone strike that targeted a group of civilians in the central Gaza Strip.

3 Palestinians were killed in the drone strike, according to Al Mayadeen's correspondent, which targeted a gathering of civilians east of the Bureij Camp, while the Palestine Today agency highlighted that one martyr was transported to the Al-Aqsa Martyrs Hospital in Deir al Balah, while two other martyrs remain at the site of the attack,

Earlier on Monday, the Gaza Ministry of Health reported in its daily statistical update that nine martyrs had been recorded—five whose bodies were recovered and four newly confirmed—along with 16 injuries that arrived at hospitals in the past 24 hours

This comes as Israel escalates its attack on Gaza, violating the ceasefire agreement, while it intensifies its blockade on the entry of humanitarian aid to the war-torn Strip.
Israel violates ceasefire, kills Palestinians

Israeli Occupation Forces added to their record of violations against civilians, shooting a woman on March 10 in the neighborhood of Tal al-Sultan, west of Rafah, while also opening fire in the town of al-Fukhari in Khan Younis.

The Palestinian Health Ministry documented the arrival of nine martyrs in its daily statistical report on March 10, with five recovered from beneath the rubble and four recently killed, in addition to 16 injuries at hospitals across the Strip.

Early on March 9, Israeli occupation forces opened fire in the Shujaiyya neighborhood, east of Gaza City, killing a Palestinian and wounding several others, while in a further escalation of ceasefire violations, an Israeli drone targeted Palestinians in the Al-Zafaran area, east of Al-Maghazi refugee camp in central Gaza.

The Gazan Ministry of Health said on 2 March that at least four people were killed and several were injured in airstrikes on various "parts of the territory." Two were martyred in an Israeli drone strike east of Gaza airport while another person was killed in a drone attack on Beit Hanoun.

The occupation army has killed 100 Palestinians and injured 820 others in the Gaza Strip since the ceasefire agreement went into effect on January 19, 2024, According to Salamah Ma'arouf, head of the governmental press office on 2 March

https://english.almayadeen.net/news/politics/-israel--violates-gaza-ceasefire--kills-3-people-near-bureij

[Anthea]

30 Palestinians detained in West Bank

Israeli occupation forces detained 30 Palestinians, including former detainees, during raids in various areas of the occupied West Bank

Israeli occupation forces arrested 30 Palestinians, including former detainees, during raids carried out in various areas of the occupied West Bank, the Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, in collaboration with the Palestinian Prisoners Society (PPS), announced.

In a joint statement, the two organizations revealed that the Israeli army conducted a large-scale arrest campaign in the town of Azoun, east of Qalqilya in northern West Bank, detaining over 100 Palestinians, who were later released.

IOF also carried out extensive raids and arrests in several cities and villages across the West Bank and occupied al-Quds, with a special focus on the Jenin Governorate.

Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported that Israeli occupation forces stormed Arraba, near Jenin, and detained a number of youths, including the brother of prisoner Mahmoud al-Arida.

The campaign resulted in the arrest of several citizens, including Ahmed Zayt, the brother of martyr Noor Zayt, during a raid on the Shweika neighborhood in Tulkarm.

Other detainees included Abdelrahman Ouda from the Denaba neighborhood and Maham Adattar from Tulkarm.

In Nablus, the occupation forces arrested Yassin Ameira, along with Abdel Nasser Zoukan from the Balata Refugee Camp, as well as young men Mohammad Majed Abu Asbah and Mohammad Fadi Abu Asbah from the town of Halhul in al-Khalil, and Adam Azmi Jabarin from Sa'ir.

Raids also took place in Beitunia, Ramallah, where Ahmed al-Khatib was arrested, and in Kafr Aqab, al-Quds, where Majdi Qahoush was detained.

IOF conduct house-to-house raids in WB, violate, detain Palestinians

Israeli occupation forces (IOF) carried out a large-scale raid in the Palestinian town of Azzun, east of Qalqilya in the northern West Bank, on Tuesday, marking another escalation in the occupied territory, witnesses reported.

Israeli forces stormed and searched multiple homes and subjected around 200 Palestinians to field interrogations before releasing them. However, several other individuals were detained.

Activists shared footage and images on social media showing Palestinian civilians stripped to their underclothes during their arrests.

Azzun has been repeatedly targeted by Israeli raids due to its location along a main road frequently used by illegal Israeli settlers traveling between Qalqilya and Ramallah.

The incursion comes as the Israeli military continues its deadly offensive in the northern West Bank, which began on January 21, resulting in at least 65 Palestinian deaths and the forced displacement of thousands.
Israeli forces arrest 762 Palestinians in February, including 90 kids

Since the outset of the Israeli war on the West Bank, the IOF arrested 762 Palestinians, including 90 children and 19 women, from various areas in the occupied West Bank during the month of February. The largest number of arrests occurred in Jenin and its refugee camp, as part of a military operation that has been ongoing for over a month.

This was stated in a joint report issued by the Palestinian Commission of Detainees and Ex-Detainees Affairs, the Palestinian Prisoners' Society, and the Addameer Prisoner Support and Human Rights Association.

According to the report, "The occupation army continued its arrest campaigns in the West Bank, reaching a total of 762 Palestinians in February, with the highest number recorded in Jenin and its refugee camp."

The report also confirmed that among those detained, "90 children and 19 women were documented," noting "a rise in field interrogations, which targeted hundreds of Palestinians over the past month." The report further noted that since the start of the Israeli offensive in the northern West Bank on January 21, "the army has arrested 300 Palestinians from Jenin and its refugee camp, and 200 from Tulkarm and its refugee camps."

The statement also indicated that since October 7, 2023, the number of Palestinians detained in the West Bank has risen to 15,640, including 490 women (not counting women arrested from Gaza, whose numbers are estimated in the dozens).

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[Anthea]

UN accuse Israel of genocide

and sexual violence

Israel’s actions in Gaza meet the definition of genocidal acts, a United Nations investigation concluded on Thursday. The report stressed that Israel deliberately targeted and destroyed critical sexual and reproductive healthcare facilities, which are essential for safe pregnancies, deliveries, and neonatal care. It further accused Israeli forces of using sexual violence as a war strategy, including forced stripping, sexual harassment, and rape, contributing to severe and long-lasting trauma for Palestinian women and young girls

The UN Commission of Inquiry reported that "Israel intentionally attacked and destroyed" Gaza's primary fertility center while simultaneously imposing a siege that blocked humanitarian aid, including medication crucial for safe pregnancies, deliveries, and neonatal care.

Israel has alleged that the reports are “unfounded", but the commission found that Israel's actions had severely impacted the reproductive capacity of Palestinians in Gaza. The commission outlined two categories of genocidal acts: "deliberately inflicting on the group conditions of life calculated to bring about its physical destruction" and "imposing measures intended to prevent births within the group."

Israel inflicted deep physical, mental scars on Palestinian women and girls

The commission’s chair, Navi Pillay, stated that these violations caused "severe immediate physical and mental harm and suffering to women and girls," with "irreversible long-term effects on the mental health and reproductive and fertility prospects of Palestinians."

The report also detailed the destruction of the Al-Basma IVF Centre, Gaza's main in-vitro fertility clinic, in December 2023. The attack reportedly destroyed around 4,000 embryos, and the commission found no credible evidence suggesting that the clinic had any military purpose. It concluded that the attack was aimed at preventing births among Palestinians, constituting a genocidal act.

The commission further noted that the broader impact on pregnant, lactating, and new mothers was unprecedented, with irreversible consequences for the reproductive future of Gaza’s population. These acts were described as crimes against humanity, with the commission concluding that "Israel's" actions were an attempt to destroy the Palestinian group as a whole.

Following public hearings in Geneva, the commission also reported that "Israel" had directly targeted Palestinian women and girls with acts of sexual violence, including forced stripping, sexual harassment, and assault. Women and girls have died from complications related to pregnancy and childbirth due to the blockade, and the commission categorized these acts as crimes against humanity and the war crime of willful killing.

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[Anthea]

Remove Hamas from Home Office

list of proscribed organisations

David Miller exposes the UK’s use of counterterrorism laws to suppress pro-Palestinian speech and calls for de-proscribing Palestinian and Lebanese resistance groups

The British government should de-proscribe all of the Palestinian and Lebanese Resistance groups currently listed on the anachronistic list maintained by the Home Office. The first and most obvious reason for this is that banning these groups does not in any way prevent or disrupt political violence in the UK. This sounds like a dramatic claim. So, let’s take a close look

After a year and a half of genocide by the illegitimate Zionist entity, voices are beginning to be raised calling for the removal of Palestinian resistance groups from the government list of proscribed organisations. But what is the list and what offences are attached to it?

When I was detained by officers of SO15 or the Counter Terrorism Command (formerly the Special Branch) under Schedule 7 the other day, I was given a piece of paper with the legal basis of the detention which I was required to sign and was given a copy to keep. It states that the detention is to enable whether I appeared ‘to be a person who is or has been concerned in the commission of instigation of acts of terrorism.’

And yet, they asked me no questions about commissioning or instigating acts of “terrorism”. Not a single one.

Instead, they asked about extremism, the Western way of life, and asked me to characterise specific views on political violence. If the Trades Description Act applied to the Terrorism Act 2000 and to the activities of SO15, I would be making a complaint to the Heathrow Trading Standards Officer.

But the reason for this is that Schedule 7 is not really intended to disrupt actual terrorism, but to surveill and repress political views and political speech which is critical of UK foreign policy, including of course support for the Palestinians' legitimate right to resist the Zionist occupation. Don’t believe me? Let’s look closely at the Home Office list of offences related to proscribed organisations.

As one can see from the offences below, none of them have anything to do with actual acts of violence. Let's take each in turn:

Obviously being a member of a proscribed group might have some relevance, but membership is not itself an act of terror. And certainly, professing to be a member of Hezbollah is not, in itself, an act of terror.

Inviting support for a proscribed group is an offence. How does one 'invite' support for a 'terrorist' organisation? The language is of course similar to the 'notice' issued to UK broadcasters on 19 October 1988. Otherwise known as the Broadcasting Ban, this was an attempt to suppress support for the Irish Republican movement and in particular its political wing Sinn Fein, which throughout the period remained a legal political party with many elected councillors in the north of Ireland. It made, as I argued at the time, no appreciable difference to the Irish Republican Army, the wing of the movement engaged in armed struggle. But what does it mean to ‘invite’ support? It’s not altogether clear and it is pretty plain that this particular provision has been of little use to the British state, resulting, as it has, in precious few convictions. As a result, the government added a wider and more vague clause to the act via the Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019, to which we turn next.

Express an 'opinion' or 'belief' that is supportive of a proscribed organisation. What does that mean? It obviously has the potential to be stretched quite far into opinions and beliefs that are shared by most people, even in the UK. Is saying that Seyed Hassan Nasrallah, the assassinated leader of Hezbollah, was widely respected and admired an opinion which is 'supportive' of a banned group? Notice the language is 'will be' encouraged not 'is' encouraged. So, at best this is a conjectural crime which does not require that anyone is actually encouraged, only that the hypothetical ‘reasonable person’ might think that. Again, nothing here that relates to involvement in planning any 'act' of violence.

Arranging or managing a meeting is, manifestly, not an act of violence, whether or not it involves giving ‘support’ for a proscribed organisation and whether or not a representative of the organisation speaks, or whether the purpose of the address is to encourage support. In fact, the more we hear the voices of those (in proscribed organisations and legal ones alike) who are involved in resisting the menace of Zionism and genocide, the better it will be for the possibility of ending the genocide.

Next is Clothing: It is an offence to ‘wear clothing or carry or display articles in public in such a way or in such circumstances as to arouse reasonable suspicion that the individual is a member or supporter of a proscribed organisation’. Articles of clothing are also not in themselves acts of terror, no matter how they are displayed.

Obviously, what they have in mind here is branding relating to specific organisations, such as a Hezbollah flag, a Qassam Brigades head band, or other perhaps less directly connected imagery or items. Obviously, given the attemtps of the Zionists and their craven allies in the British security state, there is a push to widen the parameters so they can scoop up more and more supporters of the Palestinians. Thus the case of the young women found guilty under these powers of sporting parachute patches.

Or, the case of the young man found guilty of supporting Hamas for wearing a green headband with the Shahada (the Muslim profession of faith) on it. This is of course not a ‘Hamas headband’. Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, do have a specific headband with a gun on it! As can be seen, it is not at all similar.

It is an offence to “publish an image of an item of clothing or other article, such as a flag or logo, in the same circumstances.” This is obviously intended to cover social media posts, which are manifestly not ‘acts’ or terrorism. This provision was inserted (12.4.2019) by Counter-Terrorism and Border Security Act 2019.

Overall, then, as we see these ‘proscription’ powers have nothing at all to do with interfering with material acts of political violence or armed struggle.

The proscription offences are not terrorism offences. It is an absurd nonsense, not to mention a colossal waste of resources, that SO15 are required to attempt to police thoughts, beliefs and speech as the vast majority of their activities at ports.

When the leading journalist Asa Winstanley was recently raided (but not arrested), he was told that it related to his alleged support for proscribed groups. A letter addressed to him ‘from the “Counter Terrorism Command” … indicates that the authorities are “aware of your profession” as a journalist but that “notwithstanding, police are investigating possible offenses” under sections 1 and 2 of the Terrorism Act (2006). These provisions set out the purported offense of “encouragement of terrorism.”’

And yet, if you look at the passage at the beginning of this article about commission or instigation of acts of terror, the implication is that to be of interest one would have to be involved in setting up a branch of Qassam Brigades in North London, or a version of Hezbllah’s Radwan Force in Reading. There is nobody in the entire counter-terrorism apparatus who believes that that is what Asa, me, or anybody else, is doing.

And when you put it like that, it’s also manifestly the case that neither Hamas, Hezbollah, the PFLP-GC or Palestinian Islamic Jihad are planning to set up branches in the UK, or - indeed - to carry out attacks here. Given the UK's role in directly participating in the genocide, that is generous of them, but it appears to be a fact.

But more than that, free speech about armed groups fighting an almost universally acknowledged genocide should not be criminalised and proscribed.

And the case for proscribing their welfare, health, education and other manifest functions of Hezbollah and Hamas is even weaker.

They should be de-proscribed now

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