UN chief says algorithms have no place in Gaza war

Israel says it’s withdrawing some of its troops from southern Gaza, but don’t expect that to draw a line under last week’s reporting on IDF forces allegedly using AI to identify bombing targets in the strip. Antonio Guterres, the UN chief, said on Friday he was “deeply troubled” by the reports and that life or death decisions shouldn’t be left to algorithms. Israel rejects the claim that a system codenamed Lavender sifted through surveillance data to generate targets for assassination on a mass scale, marking 37,000 Palestinians as suspected militants in the first weeks of the war. The initial report in +972 Magazine appeared well-sourced, based on interviews with six Israeli intelligence officials. Its most controversial claim – that the IDF considered acceptable a kill ratio of 15 to 20 civilians per Hamas “suspect” – hasn’t yet been thoroughly examined. It will be.