CIVICUS discusses the military use of artificial intelligence (AI) in Gaza with Dima Samaro, a Palestinian lawyer and researcher, and director of Skyline International for Human Rights, a civil society organisation (CSO) that defends digital freedoms and human rights in the Middle East and North Africa. Dima serves on multiple boards focused on civic space and surveillance issues, including Innovation for Change’s MENA Hub, the Surveillance in the Majority World Network and the VUKA! Solidarity Coalition, and volunteers with Resilience Pathways to help Palestinian CSOs counter Israeli efforts to restrict civic space and manipulate public narratives.
Gaza has become a testing ground for AI-powered warfare. Israel deploys systems such as Gospel and Lavender that produce thousands of strike recommendations based on alleged links to Hamas. Meanwhile, facial recognition technology controls aid distribution and tracks displaced civilians. These tools operate without legal oversight or transparency, creating dangerous accountability gaps. As private companies develop and profit from this technology, Gaza exposes the grave dangers of unregulated AI warfare and its potential for normalising automated violence.
