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How Artificial Intelligence Is Helping Israel Fight Enemies Online and in Gaza
Israeli soldiers fire mortar shells, amid the ongoing conflict between Israel and Hamas, near Israel’s border with Gaza in southern Israel, Jan. 3, 2024. Photo: REUTERS/Violeta Santos Moura
Artificial intelligence (AI) has emerged at the forefront of the information war being waged alongside the military battlefields in Gaza, with the Jewish state using the revolutionary technology to bolster its efforts both online and on the ground.
Shiran Mlamdovsky Somech, a leader in the AI field and the founder of Generative AI for Good, has been one of the Israelis leading the effort on the web.
“Artificial intelligence is a secret weapon of ours; we are the Startup Nation,” she told The Algemeiner in an interview about how her organization has shifted its activities since Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre in Israel and the start of the war in Gaza.
Utilizing deep fakes —photos, videos, or audio that have been digitally manipulated with AI to replace a person’s likeness convincingly with that of another — her team created videos of two children being held hostage by the Hamas terror group in Gaza begging to return home. The videos were seen by 5-10 million people around the world, Somech said.
“We make the videos in English because the audience is international,” she explained. “We are continuing to work with organizations to combat antisemitism and those feeding it.”
The challenge has grown, however, as antisemitism, especially hatred of Israel, has expanded.
“It is in academia too. There is a new antisemitism. It is not just against Jews; it is against Israel and Zionism,” Somech said. As a result, her group has sought to penetrate the world of education, both in Israel and abroad, especially through social media.
Prior to Oct. 7, when Hamas terrorists stormed southern Israel, killing more than 1,200 people and taking 240 hostage, Somech helped to spearhead impactful campaigns in the AI field.
“People were talking about how dangerous the deepfakes could be, but after thinking, we came to realize the technology could be used for good,” she said.
In 2021, Somech started a project called “Listen to My Voice,” which utilized deepfake technology to create a video of Michal Sela, an Israeli social worker who was murdered at home by her husband in 2019, educating and warning about domestic violence and urging women in relationships where they feel at risk to seek help.
“The campaign went viral immediately, reaching more than 10 million people … We were on TV and everyone was talking about it,” she said. The program was presented at NATO, Israel’s parliament, and the United Nations.
From there, Somech worked with the International March of the Living, a Holocaust education program, as her organization created a deepfake campaign showing the fighters of the Warsaw Ghetto Uprising, the largest Jewish revolt against the Nazis, describing their bravery.
As for the current battlefield, the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) is reportedly using AI to produce targets for aerial bombings — tens of thousands so far. The system, known as the Gospel, allows the IDF to quickly identify Hamas terrorists, helping to limit civilian casualties in the war. The impact has been impressive.
According to a study by the Action on Armed Violence nonprofit group, the ratio of civilian casualties to Israeli air strikes is remarkably low. As it stands, 0.8 civilians die from an IDF air strike. To compare, the ratio was 17.1 civilian deaths per air strike for US and allied operations carried out in Mosul, Iraq against the Islamic State (ISIS). The global average is 4.5 civilians per strike.
The Gospel system is estimated to produce more than 100 targets per day for Israeli pilots.
Another tool is Liri’s Smile, an AI system made for families of those being held hostage in Gaza. The system allows for the uploading of photos and images of their loved ones, which the system can automatically scrape the internet to find matches and give information about the missing to security forces.
“Using AI, we can do good,” Somech said, eager to continue her work on behalf of Israel.
The post How Artificial Intelligence Is Helping Israel Fight Enemies Online and in Gaza first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.