In two dangerous locations in the occupied West Bank, Israel has installed robotic weapons capable of firing tear gas, flashbang grenades and sponge-tipped bullets at Palestinian protesters. Bank City, use artificial intelligence to track goals.
Israel says the technology saves lives, both Israeli and Palestinian. out of danger. The new weapon comes at a time of heightened tensions in the occupied West Bank, where unrest has escalated during the deadliest year since 2006.
The electoral victory of former Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's hard-line coalition, which includes a far-right party with close ties to the settler movement, has raised concerns of further violence. Twin towers, each equipped with a watchdog lens and cannon barrel, were recently installed on top of a watchtower full of surveillance cameras overlooking the Al-Aroub refugee camp in the southern West Bank. or sponge-tipped bullets, witnesses say.
About a month ago, the army also planted the robots in the nearby city of Hebron, where soldiers often clash with Palestinian residents who throw stones at them. The army declined to comment on its operational plans. the system in other parts of the West Bank.
Palestinian activist Issa Amro said Hebron residents fear the new weapon could be misused in potentially deadly situations or hacked without responsibility. People are also angry about what they say is a gun test on civilians, he added. Simulation for Israeli companies,” he said. “This is something new that needs to stop. There are no soldiers next to the machines.
Instead, the weapons are operated by remote control. At the touch of a button, soldiers located in a watchtower can shoot at selected targets. The military says the system is currently being tested and only fires "non-lethal". “Weapons used for crowd control, such as sponge-tipped bullets and tear gas. Al-Aroub residents say the towers have repeatedly doused the hillside camp with gas. "We didn't open the window, we didn't open the door.
We know we shouldn't open anything," said shopkeeper Hussein Al-Muzyeen. Robotic weapons are proliferating around the world, and the military is expanding the use of drones to carry out deadly strikes from Ukraine to Ethiopia. The Israeli system in the West Bank has been used by the United States in Iraq, by South Korea along the border with North Korea, and by various Syrian rebel groups.
Israel, known for its advanced military technologies, is among the top
manufacturers in the world. of drones capable of firing precision-guided missiles. It has built a fence along its border with the Gaza Strip, equipped with radar and underground and underwater sensors.
On the surface, use a robotic vehicle equipped with cameras and machine guns to patrol the volatile borders. The army is also testing and using cutting-edge surveillance technology, such as facial recognition and taking biometrics from Palestinians moving through occupation routines, such as applying for Israeli travel permits.
Israel uses technology to control civilians," said Dror Sadot, a spokesman for Israeli rights group B'Tselem. Weapons like sponge balls can cause extreme pain and even be deadly.
The turrets at Al-Aroub were built by Smart Shooter, a company that makes "fire control systems" which it says "significantly increase the accuracy, lethality and situational awareness of small arms".
The company has contracts with dozens of militaries around the world, including the US Army. Speaking at the company's headquarters on Kibbutz Yagur in northern Israel, Chief Executive Michal Mor said the weapon requires select targets and ammunition. "You always have a man at the circuit making the decision on the legitimate target," he said. He said the system minimizes casualties by distancing soldiers from the violence and limits collateral damage by making more accurate shots.
In a densely populated area like Al-Aroub, he said, soldiers could monitor specific individuals in a crowd and lock the tower on specific body parts. The system only triggers after the algorithms have evaluated complex factors such as wind speed, distance and speed.
The army said such security measures minimize the risk to soldiers and improve monitoring of their activities. He also said the technology allows soldiers to target "less sensitive" areas of the body to minimize damage and avoid shooting
bystanders. "In this way, the system reduces the chance of misses," he said.
However, Omar Shakir, Israel and Palestine director at Human Rights Watch, said Israel is "sliding toward the digital dehumanization of weapons systems." By using such technologies, Shakir said, Israel is creating “a powder keg for human rights abuses.
Violence in the West Bank has increased in recent months as Israel stepped up arrest crackdowns after a series of Palestinian attacks in Israel last spring killed 19 people. Violence has killed more than 130 Palestinians this year, and at least 10 other Israelis have been killed in recent attacks. Israel says the raids are aimed at dismantling militant infrastructure and that it was forced to act because of Palestinian inaction. security forces.
For the Palestinians, the night raids on their cities have weakened their own security forces and tightened Israel's grip on the land they want for their hoped-for state. Israel captured the West Bank, East Jerusalem and the Gaza Strip in the 1967 Middle East War.
In Al-Aroub, residents say machines fired without warning. "He's very fast, even faster than the soldiers," said Kamel Abu Hishesh, a 19-year-old student. He described near-night clashes in which soldiers stormed the camp. while the
automatic pistol fires tear gas up and down hills.
Paul Scharre, vice president of the Washington-based think tank Center for a New American Security and a former US Army sniper, said automated systems without emotion and better aiming can potentially reduce violence. for "killer robots" it is problematic. Otherwise, he said, it's only a matter of time before these automated systems are ready to use deadly force.
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