IDF Rolls Out AI-Focused Targeting Cell Course From Gaza War Lessons

The IDF has rolled out a rebuilt officers' course for its targeting cells, drawing on three years of Gaza war lessons and putting artificial intelligence at the center of how commanders coordinate air, drone, tank, artillery and naval fire on a single target. The course commander, Lt.-Col. R, a 24-year IDF veteran who ran a targeting cell in Gaza during the early months of the war, told cadets that the enemy is changing tactics rapidly but Israel can adapt even faster by using AI to analyze new patterns and turn them into strikes. Trainees are drilled on close-range fires beside friendly troops, munition selection to minimize civilian harm, and rapid coordination between arms of the military. Course leaders framed the emphasis on IDF ethics as the reason strikes avoid harming innocent people, dismissing external ICC pressure as irrelevant to Israel's operational decisions.