Israel ‘using facial recognition system’ to pick out Hamas terrorists

ISRAEL is reportedly using facial recognition technology to monitor, identify and detain Hamas terrorists in Gaza.

The mass surveillance software was initially used to find Israelis taken hostage by Hamas in its deadly attacks on Oct 7. Since then, Israel has sought to root out the terrorists as part of a ground offensive, and has used the kit to find people suspected to have ties with the group, unnamed Israeli intelligence officers and soldiers told The New York Times.

However, the data collection has been done without the consent of the population of Gaza, and is not always accurate, at times mistakenly identifying civilians as Hamas militants. The insiders said they were speaking out about the programme over concerns that government resources could be better directed elsewhere.

The facial recognition system is believed to be run by Israel’s military intelligence unit, and uses technology from Corsight, a private firm.

Corsight, based in Israel, did not immediately respond to a request for comment. The Israeli military has also not commented on the reports of the use of facial recognition technology.

But Israeli authorities have previously used such technology in the West Bank, another occupied Palestinian territory, according to the human rights group Amnesty International.

An experimental facial recognition system called Red Wolf is used at military checkpoints in Hebron where it scans Palestinians’ faces and adds them to a database without their consent.

Amnesty’s report said such surveillance “is part of a deliberate attempt by Israeli authorities to create a hostile and coercive environment for Palestinians, with the aim of minimising their presence in strategic areas”.

Facial recognition technology has begun to proliferate globally in recent years as advances are made in artificial intelligence.

In China, it has been used widely for everything from boarding flights to suppressing Muslim minority groups.

In recent years, it has also become common to see facial recognition gates for public transport and even for workers to enter construction sites.