The Israeli army has implemented an advanced facial recognition program for tracking Hamas members, as reported by undisclosed sources to The New York Times. Utilizing cameras at checkpoints, drones, and other image sources, this system is described as 'extensive and experimental' by the same sources within Israeli intelligence services and the army as cited by The New York Times. Originally intended for locating hostages during a Hamas raid in early October, the system is now being used to identify and track down Hamas members and other terrorists during the ground offensive.
Concerns have been raised by an anonymous officer in Israeli intelligence, who claims the system sometimes misidentifies innocent civilians as wanted Hamas members. Several sources who spoke to The New York Times believe that the use of facial recognition is inefficient and a misallocation of resources. Despite this criticism, the Israeli army has not provided a substantive response to the article.
The facial recognition technology used by the Israeli army reportedly includes components from Corsight, an Israeli company, and Google Photos. Corsight's technology is said to be capable of recognizing faces from less than fifty percent of an image and from 'extreme angles' such as grainy drone footage. However, sources claim the system occasionally malfunctions or produces errors. In contrast, Google Photos is reported to have superior facial recognition capabilities.
Despite the performance issues, the military favors Corsight due to its customization options compared to Google Photos. According to insider information, Israel utilizes Google Photos by uploading a database of known faces and applying Google's facial recognition technology to new images.
Facial recognition has been utilized in the West Bank by Israeli forces, particularly at checkpoints where soldiers use smartphone apps to scan Palestinians' faces. In Gaza, however, the system is more extensively deployed. Drones, cameras given to soldiers, and surveillance cameras along key routes are among the tools used in conjunction with facial recognition technology.
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