Israel Deploys AI Technology to Accelerate West Bank Home Demolitions

As debates continue over the ethical challenges of artificial intelligence and the removal of human judgment from consequential decisions, Israel has moved forward with integrating AI into its military toolkit.

In Gaza, AI-driven targeting systems have contributed to the extensive loss of Palestinian lives, a situation highlighted in the award‑winning documentary NAZA.

Beyond Gaza, Israeli authorities have extended the use of AI to the occupied West Bank, where it is employed to surveil Palestinian land and speed up forced evictions, according to researchers and human‑rights advocates.

The Turkish outlet PalDigital, referencing activists and Israeli media, explained that Israel utilizes AI tools—particularly ImiSight, a product of the defense firm Rafael—to monitor large tracts of territory and detect alterations that serve as pretexts for demolitions.

Initially deployed in the Naqab desert against Bedouin Palestinian citizens of Israel, the system was reported by PalDigital in July. Many Bedouin communities reside in villages unrecognized by the state, which issues few building permits. Activists contend the measures are discriminatory and aim to displace the Bedouin population to make way for Jewish settlements.

When the tool flags landscape alterations deemed unauthorized, bulldozers are dispatched.

PalDigital notes that Israel has now transferred this capability to the occupied West Bank, where home demolitions have long been justified by alleged building violations in areas where Palestinians face severe obstacles obtaining permits.

In April 2025, the Israel Land Authority created an enforcement unit dedicated to operating in the West Bank, a step described by the Israeli rights group Peace Now as a “move toward annexation.” The unit, which oversees land rights, employs “advanced technological tools based on artificial intelligence for detecting encroachments,” the group added.

Amir Daoud, head of documentation and publication at the Colonisation and Wall Resistance Commission, told Al Jazeera that establishing the unit represents a calculated escalation.

“We are witnessing the transfer of a surveillance and eviction model tested on Palestinians in the Naqab to the occupied Palestinian territory,” Daoud said to Al Jazeera. “The political risk begins with creating a district linked to the Israel Land Authority that functions inside the West Bank, effectively placing an Israeli civilian administration directly in occupied land.”

Al Jazeera sought comment from the Israeli military and ImiSight but has not yet received a response.

Edge computing surveillance

Alongside AI platforms such as ImiSight, progress in satellite technology is increasing how quickly aerial imagery can be analyzed. Khaled Safi, a Palestinian digital‑media and technology expert, explained to Al Jazeera that the system accelerates processing by sidestepping the lag of traditional human review. Modern satellites can now run AI algorithms onboard, processing images while still in orbit.

“When powerful computer chips and AI algorithms were integrated into the satellite itself, it essentially turned the spacecraft into an edge‑computing node operating in space,” Safi told Al Jazeera, referring to a device that processes data where it is generated rather than transmitting it to a ground‑based centre. “It captures the image, analyses it, spots changes and significant objects, and then transmits the results—or just the essential data—back to Earth.”

Israeli media reported in January 2025 that ImiSight enabled the Land Authority to survey more than 10,700 sq km in the Naqab, contributing to the forced removal of over 2,600 Palestinian Bedouin citizens of Israel.

That automation is now intensifying hardship in the West Bank.

Comparing 2010‑2022 with 2023‑2025, Israeli human‑rights organizations Peace Now and Kerem Navot recorded an 80 percent rise in demolitions in Area C of the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem, regions under full Israeli military and civil control. From 2023 to 2025, an average of 966 structures were razed each year. In 2025 alone, demolitions surged, with Israeli forces destroying 1,288 Palestinian buildings between January and September.

“The algorithm acts as a ‘force multiplier’: it scans extensive territories, prioritises targets, detects recent changes and speeds the path from warning to demolition,” Daoud stated. “The government decides on mass displacement, and the algorithm reduces the cost of carrying it out.”

Automating enforcement

The AI framework is further bolstered by a well‑funded network of Israeli settler ground patrols that convert illegal outposts into intelligence‑gathering hubs. In 2023, the Israeli government allocated 33 million shekels (approximately $9 million) to settler patrols and 40 million shekels (about $13.2 million) to outfit outposts with drones and cameras.

Safi cautioned about the grave ethical danger of a “human‑out‑of‑the‑loop” approach, where automated systems determine the fate of vulnerable groups without human oversight.

“The issue is reducing a consequential decision to a probability ranging from zero to one, linking a figure, an image and a dataset,” Safi said. “This lets the responsible party diffuse accountability, allowing blame to fall on the algorithm, the institution, or some obscure entity.”

This technological deployment coincides with unprecedented settlement growth. Between 2023 and 2025, the Israeli government advanced plans for more than 40,000 settler housing units and established 185 new outposts—all deemed illegal under international law. During the same period, Israel oversaw the expulsion of 118 Palestinian shepherding communities across the West Bank.

According to figures from the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA) and Peace Now, roughly 750,000 Israeli settlers now reside in the occupied territories, with settler violence in the ongoing campaign against Palestinians reaching a record 1,836 attacks in 2025 alone.

This trend aligns with the launch of an online land registry in Area C—a project condemned by Palestinian authorities, including the Colonisation and Wall Resistance Commission, as a digital instrument intended to cement administrative annexation.

Emphasising the stark double standards of this automated enforcement, Daoud described the system as an engine of segregation.

“Palestinian structures are identified early and funneled into a swift demolition track, whereas colonial outposts receive funding, are linked to services, and are later legalised retroactively,” Daoud observed.

Ultimately, the introduction of ImiSight in the West Bank serves a dual, profitable aim for Israel’s defence sector.

“The Palestinian territories are not merely a surveillance arena but a transparent testing ground for the occupation to refine these operations in the field,” Safi warned. “It trains its algorithms on cutting‑edge technology, preparing them for sale and global marketing to commercial firms.”

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