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This paper seeks to identify lessons relevant to the British Army, based on analysis of Israel Defense Forces (IDF) operations in autumn 2023.

While AI has the potential to refine and improve military targeting, the evidence suggests that the Israeli military’s use of AI tools during the Gaza conflict has been more about speed than accuracy.

Egypt and Israel signed the Camp David Accords in 1978, the first peace treaty between the Jewish state and any of its Arab neighbours. The accords are the bedrock of the region’s security architecture, but owing to Israel’s war on Gaza and its moves at the border between Gaza and Egypt, the relationship between Cairo and Tel Aviv has reached its lowest point in decades. In US President Joe Biden’s recent speech on the crisis, he mentioned a clear role for Cairo in not only negotiations, but the ‘day after’. What kind of state are Egyptian-Israeli relations in, and how might this impact the future? Jonathan Eyal (JE) asked RUSI Senior Associate Fellow H A Hellyer (HH) about the significance of these events.

On 20 May, the Office of the Prosecutor of the International Criminal Court (ICC) applied for arrest warrants for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Minister of Defence Yoav Gallant, and for Hamas leaders Yahya Sinwar (head of Hamas in Gaza), Mohammed Deif (commander of Hamas’s military wing) and Ismail Haniyeh (head of Hamas’s political bureau, based in Qatar). In this explainer, RUSI Senior Associate Fellow Julie Norman breaks down the legal and political implications.

Iran's failed attack on Israel highlights the danger of miscalculation and escalation in the Middle East. With the risk of further conflict and the looming threat of a nuclear Iran, the region faces a dangerous crossroads.

The UK recently joined several other countries in withdrawing funding from a UN aid agency in response to Israeli allegations of crimes linked to Hamas. This paper considers the intent behind defunding as an approach, its potential security impacts and options for responses to similar cases in future.

With the Israel–Gaza conflict threatening to escalate tensions across the Middle East, Omani officials are stepping up their rhetoric in favour of peace, capitalising on their country’s reputation as a regional interlocutor.

With Israel and Hizbullah engaging in months of tit-for-tat strikes across the Lebanese border, the dangers of a full-scale conflict are clear. But there are reasons for both parties to refrain from escalating further.

The ‘Habsora’ AI system used by the Israeli military is said to use intelligence data to generate targets for attack, including reports on the likely number of civilian casualties. But the odds of even the Israel Defense Forces using an AI with such a degree of sophistication and autonomy are low.

The proliferation of lethal autonomous weapon systems is inevitable, given the availability of the underpinning technology and the benefits that such systems bring to some users.

Public support for Israel is in decline in the West and low in emerging economies. A much less violent security strategy is needed to enhance its image, and that of its allies.

Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant’s recently outlined plan for a post-war Gaza may appear to constitute a positive vision for the day after the fighting concludes, but it has little chance of being implemented and is fundamentally flawed.

Israel’s war against Hamas in Gaza is dominating the start of 2024 in the Middle East, but the fallout from the war will also shape the region once the fighting eventually ends.

If a drone were ever to shoot dead a UK Cabinet minister in the royal box at Wimbledon, a Gulf potentate at Ascot, or a Chinese dissident in the stands at Wembley Stadium, we might look back at the 10 incremental steps that got us there and wonder why we let them happen when the West was still the dominant global force.

Lebanon’s economy is already in ruin; it would not survive a renewed war with Israel, and nor might Hizbullah.

With the outcome of the present confrontation between Israel and its opponents in Gaza remaining uncertain, a comparison with previous rounds of fighting may provide some insight into how events could develop.

As Israel’s war in Gaza rages on, the Gulf Arab states continue to try to strike a balance between working to contain and end the violence and maintaining momentum for their respective national projects.