Israeli command system identified 850,000 targets in Gaza and Lebanon wars, says supplier

Israel's military command system identified 850,000 real-time intelligence targets across the Gaza and Lebanon wars between October 2023 and the end of 2025, according to a presentation by the country's largest arms supplier, Elbit Systems, at a London conference last week [1]. The figure was disclosed by Miki Edelstein, an IDF reservist major general and Elbit executive vice-president, during a land warfare conference organized by the Royal United Services Institute [1]. Edelstein told the largely military audience that the Tzayad digital army programme detected approximately 1,000 potential targets a day, describing them as "an enemy that we are not aware of before" that "pops up" and requires accurate engagement [1]. Nato's second most senior military commander, Britain's Air Chief Marshal Sir Johnny Stringer, sat beside Edelstein on the panel [1]. Elbit Systems, founded in 1966, is the primary provider of the Israeli military's land-based equipment and unmanned aerial vehicles, and reported 20,000 employees in a 2025 investor presentation [4]. The company's Tzayad programme maps positions of friendly units and those deemed hostile, and earlier this year Elbit won a contract to further develop the system using artificial intelligence for tactical decision-making [1]. A slide presented by Edelstein cited more than 20,000 IDF battle plans and 46,000 joint strikes and closing fire on real-time intelligence, or a little over 50 a day [1]. Edelstein said the digital programme reduced the time for external fire support from "40 to 50 minutes to one to seven minutes" [1]. Wes Bryant, a former senior targeting adviser at the US Pentagon, said the 850,000 figure was highly concerning. "I will say, definitively, that there is no way each and every one of the 1,000 targets a day – let alone 850,000 targets in aggregate – are thoroughly and effectively characterised in terms of collateral damage analysis and assessed risk to civilian populations," Bryant said [1]. Sophia Goodfriend, a research fellow at Cambridge University specializing in the impact of artificial intelligence on warfare, said any military would struggle to vet such volumes without relying on automated systems. "Any military would struggle to do so without outsourcing verification to other automated systems, which raises questions of accountability and concern about shrinking amounts of human oversight," she said [1]. An Elbit spokesperson, contacted by the Guardian, denied the 850,000 figure referred to targets, saying it reflected "aggregated system activity and operational data generated through the IDF's digital army program across all operational theaters since October 7, 2023" [1]. According to the World Health Organization, 71,269 Palestinians were killed in Gaza to the end of last year, with a little over half being children, women and elderly people [1]. A total of 3,961 were killed in Lebanon during the autumn 2024 war, according to the country's ministry of public health [1]. A UN inquiry has found Israel is committing genocide in Gaza, a claim the country contests in international courts [1]. The Tzayad system operates alongside two other AI-powered databases, Lavender and Hasbora, which Israel's military uses to accelerate targeting of people and buildings [1]. Lavender at one stage identified 37,000 people as potential targets based on assessed links to Hamas, with one Israeli intelligence officer saying targets were assessed by a human for "20 seconds a time" [1].