{
  "id": 14139677,
  "title": "Israel and Palestine: 30 wasted years",
  "url": "https://urgent.news/2026/10/13/israel-and-palestine-30-wasted-years",
  "topic": "world",
  "section": "World",
  "published": "2026-10-13T07:00:10.000Z",
  "source": {
    "name": "Winnipeg Free Press",
    "slug": "winnipeg-free-press",
    "url": "https://www.winnipegfreepress.com/opinion/analysis/2026/10/13/israel-and-palestine-30-wasted-years"
  },
  "original_language": "en",
  "account": "For 30 years, the conflict between Israel and Palestine has wasted countless lives and resources. After the surprise Hamas attack on Israel in October 2023, the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) issued strict guidelines for remotely killing suspected Palestinian activists in densely populated Gaza. Up to 20 civilians could be killed in a strike against a single Hamas member, while up to 100 non-combatants could be killed in the case of a \"senior\" Hamas member. This order came hours after the attack, even though IDF troops were not yet in Gaza, and most strikes have remained remote ever since.\n\nThe remote strikes have led to the deaths of over 74,000 Palestinians in Gaza, with around a third of them being children. The Israeli military losses have been minimal, but the civilian casualties in Gaza are nearing the total of all Palestinians killed in wars since 1948. The drone operators and artillery gunners who carried out the strikes did not choose the targets themselves. Instead, they followed orders from an AI system named Lavender, which generated tens of thousands of likely targets using surveillance devices.\n\nThe drone system is given the code name NAZA, derived from the Hebrew term for \"collateral damage.\" Despite the immense civilian toll, the conflict has not moved any closer to resolution. The peace process, which seemed to be making progress in the mid-1990s, was abandoned when the PLO and Israeli leaders signed a peace deal in 1995. The assassination of Israeli Prime Minister Yitzhak Rabin by a far-right Jewish student in 1995 forced an early election, and Benjamin Netanyahu capitalized on the right-wing, anti-peace sentiment to win the election and put an end to the peace deal. Thirty years later, the prospect of peace has largely faded, with Netanyahu in power for over half the time since 1995 and potentially winning another term despite his failure to stop or defeat Hamas.",
  "summary": "Here is how the high command of the Israel Defence Forces (IDF) laid down the rules for “remotely” killing suspected Palestinian activists in the densely populated Gaza Strip after the […]",
  "key_points": [
    "Thirty-year conflict between Israel and Palestine has caused immense loss of life and resources.",
    "Remote strikes by IDF resulted in over 74,000 Palestinian deaths, with a third being children.",
    "AI system Lavender generated target lists, leading to civilian casualties without human choice."
  ],
  "editors_take": null,
  "illustration": null,
  "coverage": {
    "outlets": 1,
    "also_reported_by": []
  },
  "ai_generated": true,
  "disclaimer": "Summaries, key points and the editor’s take are written by software from other outlets’ reporting and may contain errors — always check the linked original."
}