IDF

Gaza update: the questionable precision and ethics of Israel’s AI warfare machine

Retrieved on: 
Thursday, April 18, 2024
Islamic Jihad, Torture, Hamas, Crime, Algorithm, Pressure, Quds Force, Stuxnet, Intelligence, University, White, Benjamin Netanyahu, School, IDF, Artificial intelligence, Local call, History, Rest, AI, Human, University College Dublin, Milgram, RMIT University, The Jerusalem Post, 2021 Israel–Palestine crisis, Atmosphere, Guardian, International law, Defense, Medical device

The IDF says it has been working on information gleaned from questioning Palestinian fighters captured in the fighting.

Key Points: 
  • The IDF says it has been working on information gleaned from questioning Palestinian fighters captured in the fighting.
  • According to a report in the Jerusalem Post on April 17, the Palestinian fighters were hiding out in schools in the area.
  • The investigation, by online Israeli magazines +927 and Local Call examined the use of an AI programme called “Lavender”.
  • It’s important to note that the IDF is not the only military to be working with AI in this way.
  • But one function of the way the IDF is harnessing Lavender in this current conflict is its use alongside other systems.
  • Read more:
    Israel accused of using AI to target thousands in Gaza, as killer algorithms outpace international law

The Iranian dimension

  • Away from the charnel house that is the Gaza Strip, the focus has been on the aftermath of Israel’s strike on the Iranian embassy in Baghdad on April 1.
  • As is his wont, Iran’s supreme leader, Ayatollah Ali Khamenei, vowed revenge, declaring: “The Zionist regime will be punished by the hands of our brave men.
  • And this was very much how it was to turn out when Iran’s drones and missiles flew last weekend.
  • Read more:
    Could Israel's strike against the Iranian embassy in Damascus escalate into a wider regional war?
  • Read more:
    Why Iran's failed attack on Israel may well turn out to be a strategic success

The nuclear option?


One of the possibilities being widely canvassed is that Israel could mount some kind of attack on Iran’s nuclear weapons programme. This has been revitalised in the years since Donald Trump pulled the US out of the deal negotiated by his predecessor Barack Obama.

  • He walks us through the history of Iran’s nuclear programme, a story littered with the bodies of Iranian nuclear scientists and the wreckage of its nuclear facilities thanks to fiendish cyberattacks such as the Stuxnet virus developed by Israel and the US that was launched against Iran in 2010.
  • Since Trump quit the nuclear deal, Iran has gone full-steam ahead in ramping up its nuclear weapons programme, while reportedly hiding its key installations in deep underground bunkers that are thought impossible to destroy from the air.

Alarum Announces Exciting Events Lineup and Welcomes Esteemed Advisor to NetNut’s Advisory Board

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, March 26, 2024
Israel Defense Forces, EST, Venture capital, Data science, Intelligence Corps, Central Waqf Council, Internet access, Blockchain, IDF, Social media, Data collection, Social Blade, TEL, Retail

In addition, the Company will release its preliminary results for the first quarter of 2024, during the first half of April 2024.

Key Points: 
  • In addition, the Company will release its preliminary results for the first quarter of 2024, during the first half of April 2024.
  • NetNut appointed Mr. Yorai Fainmesser as Strategic Advisory Board Member:
    NetNut Ltd. (“NetNut”), the Company’s wholly owned subsidiary, is thrilled to announce the addition of Mr. Yorai Fainmesser to its Strategic Advisory Board.
  • As a general partner of a leading AI Venture Capital firm, Disruptive AI, and the former (Colonel Ret.)
  • Stay tuned for the podcast release to gain valuable insights to Alarum's vision and contributions to emerging technologies.

Euno Emerges from Stealth with Frictionless Data Model Governance Platform, Secures $6.25M in Seed Funding

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
Israel Defense Forces, Automation, Tableau, Logic, Freedom, Organization, Netflix, Palo Alto Networks, Data science, Intelligence Corps, SQL, IDF, INT3, AI, Engineering, Love, Catalog, Artifact

As organizations scale, central data teams – which are traditionally in charge of data governance – struggle to balance the autonomy of business analysts with the governance of consistent data models.

Key Points: 
  • As organizations scale, central data teams – which are traditionally in charge of data governance – struggle to balance the autonomy of business analysts with the governance of consistent data models.
  • Euno serves as a pivotal tool in streamlining collaboration between central data teams and business analysts.
  • What surprised us was the root cause – data model governance solutions haven’t caught up with the modern data stack.
  • Our mission is clear – to untangle the toughest knots for data teams and give peace of mind to organizations with their data governance.

80+ Inspiring Events are Waiting for you in Hotel & Shop Plus 2024

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, March 20, 2024
Tao, Interior, Resort, W Hotels, Sustainable development, Public, Innovation, Tourism, Exhibition, Commerce, Intelligence, Exurb, Fashion merchandising, Greater China, Convention center, Attention, International Building, IHG Hotels & Resorts, IHG, IDF, B&B, Human

SHANGHAI, March 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Hotel & Shop Plus will take place from 26-29 March 2024 in Shanghai.

Key Points: 
  • SHANGHAI, March 20, 2024 /PRNewswire/ -- Hotel & Shop Plus will take place from 26-29 March 2024 in Shanghai.
  • This event aims to be built as one-stop souring platform for the construction and operation of hotels and commercial space.
  • The 2024 IDF, with the theme of "Breakthroughs • Reinvention," will once again gather popular hotel and commercial space architects and designers in the industry.
  • Hotel & Shop Plus connects both inside and outside, developing in multiple locations.

Bank Leumi concludes 2023 with a net income of approx. NIS 7 billion ($1.93 billion)

Retrieved on: 
Tuesday, March 19, 2024
War, Organization, Farmer, Growth, Valley Bank, Rehabilitation, ESG, Share repurchase, IDF, Bank, History, Bank Leumi, Bank statement, Common equity, National bank, NPL, TEL, HQ, Corporation

Net income in 2023, net of the one-off deduction recorded in the first quarter with respect to the investment value in Valley National Bank totaled NIS 8.1 billion ($2.23 billion).

Key Points: 
  • Net income in 2023, net of the one-off deduction recorded in the first quarter with respect to the investment value in Valley National Bank totaled NIS 8.1 billion ($2.23 billion).
  • Net credit to the public as at December 31, 2023 totaled NIS 419.5 billion ($115.7 billion), compared to NIS 384.8 billion (106.1 billion) as at December 31, 2022 - a 9.02% increase.
  • Credit to retail customers as at December 31, 2023 totaled NIS 30.2 billion ($8.3 billion), compared to NIS 32.5 billion ($9.0 billion) as at December 31, 2022 - 7.08% decrease.
  • Credit to small businesses as at December 31, 2023 totaled NIS 26.2 billion ($7.2 billion), compared to NIS 26.7 billion ($7.4 billion) as at December 31, 2022 - a 1.87% decrease.

Israeli strike on World Central Kitchen aid convoy shows growing danger of humanitarian work in conflict zones

Retrieved on: 
Friday, April 5, 2024
Indian Red Cross Society, Friends, Attention, Organization, Attack, Risk, United, School, Travel, IDF, Hospital, Getty Images, United Nations, Conversation, Tufts University, Politics, Food, Death, City, Aid Worker Security Database, International law, Violence

World Central Kitchen, one of the few international aid groups operating in Gaza, announced shortly after the attack that it would suspend its operations in Gaza.

Key Points: 
  • World Central Kitchen, one of the few international aid groups operating in Gaza, announced shortly after the attack that it would suspend its operations in Gaza.
  • In 2023, 237 aid workers were killed, kidnapped or wounded, marking a sharp rise from the 35 humanitarians who faced the same fate in 1997.
  • Why has it become more dangerous for aid workers to operate in conflict zones?
  • But there are also many more aid workers than there used to be, and we are delivering aid in different ways.
  • In the Afghanistan War, for example, aid was funded by the U.S., which was a party to the conflict.
  • From the Taliban’s perspective, this wasn’t neutral; this was U.S. aid, and the U.S. was one of the fighting forces.
  • It sounds like the World Central Kitchen workers were in direct contact with IDF and had clearance from them to travel.
  • The World Central Kitchen workers were traveling along one of Israel’s preapproved aid delivery routes.
  • How is the Gaza conflict different from other wars in terms of aid worker attacks, and what could this mean for future humanitarian work there?
  • Six of the World Central Kitchen workers who were killed were foreigners, which is one reason why I think we are paying attention.


Elizabeth Stites does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organization that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Zomi Frankcom is a tragic victim in the stalemated Israel-Hamas war, but don’t expect Australia’s approach to change much

Retrieved on: 
Friday, April 5, 2024
Rear admiral, UN, Project Hope, ABC, Hamas, Crime, United Nations Security Council, Benjamin Netanyahu, IDF, Pressure, History, Politics, Death, Volunteering, Data collection, World Health Organization, Fact-finding, Armenian genocide survivors, Haaretz, Refugee

Talleyrand was an archetypal exponent of realpolitik, and history provides numerous examples of the validity of his remark.

Key Points: 
  • Talleyrand was an archetypal exponent of realpolitik, and history provides numerous examples of the validity of his remark.
  • One is the prolonged US bombing of North Vietnam, Cambodia and Laos during the Vietnam war in the late 1960s and early 1970s.
  • Though the ministry is managed by Hamas, the World Health Organization describes its data collection as “credible and well developed”.
  • Israel claims 13,000 of those killed were Hamas fighters, though it has not said how it calculated that figure.

Claims of poor coordination refuted

  • The IDF and defence ministry claimed the strikes on the World Central Kitchen vehicles followed misidentification and poor coordination at night in complex war conditions because of suspicion an armed militant was travelling with them.
  • The Israeli newspaper Haaretz, citing defence sources, has refuted these claims.
  • The army’s killing of seven aid workers in the Gaza Strip on Monday night “stemmed from poor discipline among field commanders, not a lack of coordination between the army and aid organisations”.

How will this affect Australia’s position?

  • Albanese said he expressed Australia’s outrage at Frankcom’s death and said he wanted “full accountability”.
  • He added that he made clear Australia believes humanitarian assistance must reach people in Gaza unimpeded and in large quantities.
  • It also suggested Netanyahu has a closer eye on his political standing in Israel than the international reaction to the deaths.

Don’t expect much change

  • The reality is not much is likely to change in terms of Australia’s dealings with Israel.
  • Foreign Minister Penny Wong has already made clear no Australian military equipment has been sold to Israel since the start of the Gaza war.
  • Australia’s defence exports to Israel are in any case miniscule – A$13 million over the past five years.
  • Wong has said many times Israel has the right to defend itself but the way it does so matters.


Ian Parmeter does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Gaza update: pressure mounts on Israel’s allies to stop supplying the weapons to prevent genocide

Retrieved on: 
Friday, April 5, 2024
KCS, Liverpool John Moores University, Famine, San Francisco State University, Letter, Sheffield Hallam University, Supreme court, Weapon, Geneva Conventions, University of East London, Benjamin Netanyahu, Hermes, United Nations Security Council, Iron, Elbit Systems, IDF, Research, Food, World Central Kitchen, History, News, The Times, Politics, University, Catastrophe, Hope, WCK, Doctor of Philosophy, Fever, Lawyer, Safety, Atmosphere, International law, Economics, Government, Movement, IPC, UN, Assault

“If you aim at the driver’s side, you will hit the driver full-on,” Chris Lincoln-Jones told the newspaper.

Key Points: 
  • “If you aim at the driver’s side, you will hit the driver full-on,” Chris Lincoln-Jones told the newspaper.
  • It is also thought probable that they were launched from a Hermes drone, made by Elbit Systems – also an Israeli manufacturer.
  • The letter, which the newspaper reports amounts to a legal opinion, says UK arms sales to Israel breach international law and must stop.
  • One obvious way to do that is to stop selling them weapons.


Now many of the aid agencies operating in Gaza have suspended their activities. As Stavropoulou and Schiffling write here, the difficulty of getting aid to the population threatens to make the famine that is engulfing the Gaza Strip worse than it already is.

Read more:
More than 200 aid workers have been killed in Gaza, making famine more likely

UN resolution

  • We spoke with John Strawson, an expert in Israeli politics at the University of East London, who kindly answered our questions about the politics of the situation, especially the US decision not to use its veto to block the resolution after decades of faithfully supporting successive Israeli governments in the security council.
  • Expert Q&A

    Given that Netanyahu has indicated that Israel will not abide by security council resolution 2728 – and the US has said that it’s a non-binding resolution in any case – what does international law say about the enforceability of US resolutions?

  • There appears no reason why resolution 2728 is not legally binding and, if push comes to shove, the security council could order that UN members “take such action by air, sea, or land forces as may be necessary to maintain or restore international peace and security”.

Starvation behind the ‘Iron Wall’

  • According to the Hamas-run Gaza health ministry the total has now passed 33,000 people.
  • Nnenna Awah, whose PhD research at Sheffield Hallam University is in optimising food supply chains, walks us through the different classifications of food insecurity.
  • Kaplan says it is the embodiment of Israel’s “Iron Wall” ideology, developed even before statehood was declared in 1948.
  • Kaplan says that Jabotinsky’s ideological heirs in Likud (including Netanyahu) have rejected more liberal Israeli compromise positions ever since.

Israel-Hamas conflict: Ramadan brings fresh fears of escalation on both Gaza Strip and West Bank

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, March 13, 2024
Ummah, Woman, Violence, Hamas, Emotion, Al-Aqsa Mosque, Al-Aqsa, Muslims, IDF, Food, Sadness, Al-Isra', Islam, Knesset, Famine, Old, Jews, Policy, Prisoner, Fasting, Medicine, Temple Mount, Abraham Accords, COGAT, Pressure, Foreign Policy

A sea corridor has been opened between Cyprus and Gaza and the first shipments of aid are arriving from Europe.

Key Points: 
  • A sea corridor has been opened between Cyprus and Gaza and the first shipments of aid are arriving from Europe.
  • But it’s thought that it will be difficult to get a sufficient amount of food, fuel and medicine in by sea.
  • Ramadan is a central event in the Islamic holy calendar, commemorating Muhammad’s first revelation of what would later become the Qur'an.
  • The death toll, according to the Gaza health ministry, has topped 31,000 with nearly 73,000 more people injured.

West Bank

  • Instead of being bustling with activity, the narrow alleys of the Old City were almost empty, with many local shops closed.
  • According to Surah 17 in the Qur'an, Muhammad ascended to heaven from the site of Al-Aqsa after his miraculous night journey from Mecca.
  • The holy site is traditionally visited by tens of thousands of Muslim pilgrims each day as part of their Ramadan celebrations.
  • That instantly resulted in scuffles at one of the shrine’s entrances, with Israeli officers using batons on the Palestinian crowd.


Carlo Aldrovandi does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

Sweet Security Raises $33 Million Series A, Upgrades Its Runtime Security Suite to Usher in a New Era for Cloud Security

Retrieved on: 
Wednesday, March 6, 2024
Apps, Applications, Online Privacy, Technology, Finance, Venture Capital, Security, Professional Services, Software, Data Analytics, Artificial Intelligence, Online, Cloud, Workload, Love, CRN, API, General partnership, Pain, Noise, International Data Group, IDF, EBPF, Gartner, Risk, NHI, Software as a service, Unit, CISO, Special Operations Division, Sample, Berkeley Packet Filter, Open Container Initiative, Anomaly, Risk management

Without runtime visibility and insights, companies simply do not have an applicable way to manage their cloud risks. The recently discovered set of RunC vulnerabilities underscore how easily companies can be caught off guard by new cloud risks and be forced to spend days -- if not weeks -- trying to understand what happened and how to fix it.

Key Points: 
  • Sweet is also unveiling enhancements to its unified runtime platform, adding first-to-market capabilities for runtime posture enhancement and runtime non-human identity management.
  • Without runtime visibility and insights, companies simply do not have an applicable way to manage their cloud risks.
  • In August 2023, Sweet launched the first unified runtime security platform for the cloud.
  • The cloud presents significant challenges relating to non-human identities: As such, Sweet is introducing first-to-market functionality into its runtime security suite: runtime posture enhancement and runtime NHI management.