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Israeli authorities are expanding their deployment of artificial intelligence technology to automate land surveillance and accelerate the demolition of Palestinian homes and structures across the occupied West Bank, according to rights advocates and digital researchers.
The ongoing implementation comes at a time when governments and international bodies are actively debating the broader ethical perils of artificial intelligence, particularly the risks associated with stripping human oversight from life-altering administrative and military decisions. Despite these global concerns, Israel has moved forward by integrating sophisticated algorithmic tools across various branches of its security and governmental apparatus.
Prior to its application in monitoring West Bank land, AI software was extensively utilized in military operations in the Gaza Strip. In that theater, computational databases were deployed to automatically generate potential bomb targets and compile kill lists, significantly expanding the scale of casualties among Palestinians—a development recently documented in the award-winning film NAZA.
In the occupied West Bank, this technological framework has been adapted into a land surveillance tool designed to identify unauthorized construction and expedite the forced displacement of Palestinian residents. Reporting by the Turkish media platform PalDigital, drawing on Israeli media accounts and human rights sources, identified a specialized AI software program known as ImiSight, which was created by the Israeli arms manufacturer Rafael.
The ImiSight platform is engineered to scan extensive geographical zones and automatically detect alterations in the landscape over time. When the automated system registers physical modifications that authorities interpret as unauthorized construction, Israeli enforcement agencies use the algorithmic findings to quickly dispatch bulldozers and level the identified sites.
Before being transferred to the occupied territories, the technology was tested in Israel's southern Naqab desert against Palestinian Bedouin citizens. In that region, numerous Bedouin families reside in villages that are not formally recognized by the Israeli government, leaving residents with almost no opportunity to obtain lawful building permits. Human rights activists have argued that these policies are discriminatory and intended to displace Bedouin communities in order to clear land for Jewish settlements.
According to reports published in Israeli media in January 2025, the deployment of ImiSight in the Naqab allowed the Israel Land Authority to monitor more than 10,700 square kilometers of territory. This computerized oversight directly contributed to the forced eviction of over 2,600 Palestinian Bedouin citizens from their homes.
Having utilized the software inside the Naqab, Israeli authorities subsequently adapted the mechanism for the occupied West Bank, where building permits for Palestinians in Israeli-controlled sectors are similarly virtually impossible to acquire. In April 2025, the Israel Land Authority established a dedicated enforcement unit specifically mandated to operate within the West Bank, incorporating AI technology to spot land encroachments.
The creation of this enforcement branch prompted sharp warnings from the Israeli human rights organization Peace Now, which described the formal introduction of the agency into the occupied territory as a decisive step toward annexation. The group pointed out that an Israeli domestic civilian authority managing land rights was now deploying high-tech artificial intelligence tools directly across occupied areas.
Amir Daoud, the head of documentation and publication at the Palestinian Colonisation and Wall Resistance Commission, stated that transferring this surveillance system represents a deliberate escalation. Daoud warned that introducing a civilian government body affiliated with the Israel Land Authority into the West Bank establishes an Israeli civilian administrative presence within territory under military occupation.
The capabilities of these surveillance systems have been substantially augmented by advances in orbital reconnaissance and edge computing technology. Palestinian technology and digital media specialist Khaled Safi explained that newly deployed satellites are equipped with powerful onboard computer chips and AI algorithms, converting the orbital platforms into operational edge computing terminals.
Rather than transmitting raw, uncompressed imagery back to Earth-based data centers for human analysts to review, the satellites now analyze photographs directly within space. Safi noted that the system independently processes the images, isolates newly erected structures or alterations, and beams only the analyzed results or key data points directly down to enforcement agencies on Earth.
This automated tracking has coincided with a marked surge in structural destructions. Documentation published by Israeli human rights groups Peace Now and Kerem Navot showed that demolitions in Area C of the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem—both under full Israeli administrative and military control—surged by 80 percent when comparing 2010–2022 to the 2023–2025 period.
Between 2023 and 2025, an average of 966 Palestinian buildings were demolished each year. The operational tempo accelerated sharply in 2025, with Israeli forces destroying 1,288 Palestinian structures in just the nine months between January and September.
Daoud characterized the algorithm as an operational force multiplier that allows the state to rapidly translate displacement policies into reality. By scanning vast swathes of land and prioritizing targets for rapid warning and demolition, the software drastically lowers the cost and effort required by the government to execute forced displacements. Requests for comment sent to the Israeli military and the developers of ImiSight received no response.
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