Automating death: Israel’s AI-powered genocide in Gaza

On February 29, 2024, Israeli forces fired at civilians as they gathered around an aid convoy. At least 115 people were killed in what has since become known as the ‘Flour Massacre’. Survivors recalled the involvement of armed tanks and quadcopters. “When the aid entered, the tank and quadcopter started firing at the people gathered, the people who went to get food for themselves and their children. They started shooting at them,” Mahmoud Ahmad, a Gaza resident, told Reuters shortly after the incident. Screenshot from video released by Israeli forces/Anadolu Agency Powered by artificial intelligence (AI), Israel’s strategy of keeping soldiers “out of harm’s way” while they kill Palestinians relies on quadcopter drones and various AI systems to identify and target people.

Quadcopters such as the ‘Bird of Prey’ — designed by Elbit Systems, the apartheid state’s largest arms manufacturer — have contributed to the deaths of Palestinians in Gaza, where more than 70,000 people have reportedly been killed since the beginning of the genocide. According to the manufacturer, the ‘Bird of Prey’ quadcopter drone is designed to enable “fast and accurate” targeting and is light enough to fit into a soldier’s backpack. The drone can transmit high-quality footage in real time, facilitating precision targeting. According to the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor , at least 60 civilians have been killed by fire or munitions dropped from these drones since the October 2025 ceasefire till early September 2026. In April 2024, reports surfaced online of drones playing sounds of crying babies and screaming women and children to lure residents and kill them. Palestinians inspect the site of a house targeted by Israeli airstrikes after the Israeli military warned residents to evacuate late on…