Israel Deploys AI Agents Across Multiple Fronts

Technologists with the Israeli military’s Matzpen operational data and applications unit work at their stations, at an Israeli Army base in Ramat Gan, Israel. (Reuters)
Technologists with the Israeli military’s Matzpen operational data and applications unit work at their stations, at an Israeli Army base in Ramat Gan, Israel. (Reuters)
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Israel Deploys AI Agents Across Multiple Fronts

Technologists with the Israeli military’s Matzpen operational data and applications unit work at their stations, at an Israeli Army base in Ramat Gan, Israel. (Reuters)
Technologists with the Israeli military’s Matzpen operational data and applications unit work at their stations, at an Israeli Army base in Ramat Gan, Israel. (Reuters)

The Israeli Army has begun deploying “AI agents” to detect missile launchers, generate real-time aerial intelligence and sharpen strike speed and precision across multiple fronts, officials told Haaretz and the Yedioth Ahronoth newspaper on Tuesday.

“The pace, scope and precision of strikes — as well as their overall quality and volume — would not have been possible without human-machine integration and automated tools capable of synchronizing hundreds of actions simultaneously,” an Israeli official told Yedioth Ahronoth.

Such missions, he noted, would have been impossible for the Israeli army just a few years ago, or even months ago.

The senior military official said the army sees the technology as part of its future, with some such agents already in use in undisclosed systems.

According to Yedioth Ahronoth, Israel’s use of artificial intelligence in Operation Roaring Lion is unprecedented.

Integrated into command-and-control systems from the General Staff down, AI is helping the Air Force plan and coordinate strikes in Iran and Lebanon and assist with navigation
The newspaper said in recent weeks, AI has also helped generate real-time situational assessments across multiple theaters — a need underscored by lessons from the failures that led to the October 7 attacks.

One system, known as “Tashan,” is used by the Air Force to identify missile launchers in Iran, Lebanon and Yemen immediately after launches, allowing forces to quickly locate and destroy the source.

Meanwhile, another source told Haaretz on Tuesday that the Israeli military has for the first time confirmed an artificial intelligence infrastructure developed during the war in Gaza is now fully operational in current fighting in Iran and Lebanon.

The system, known internally as the Israeli army’s “Operational Data and AI Factory,” integrates sensor, video, text and audio data into a single real-time operational picture across the military.

A military official told Haaretz that the system is now in use throughout the army. It can process vast amounts of data, including inputs from sensors, as well as video, text and audio.

According to the official, the shift to this AI-based infrastructure creates a comprehensive operational picture of the military's forces, missions and threats – one that is accessible to all branches.

The system is designed to assist with attack planning, targeting and strikes. It also records and transcribes all wireless communications, and compiles real-time data on missile and drone launches and interceptions. This significantly improves both operational and defensive decision-making in a way that was previously unimaginable.

Haaretz has learned that the system is also involved in processing strike plans and targets – confirming for the first time that the infrastructure plays a role in offensive operations, not just defense.

In Lebanon, military sources say, similar capabilities are being used to analyze video feeds from cameras deployed across the sector, identifying people and objects and generating real-time alerts.

Another system, “Lohem” (Fighter), assists commanders – particularly in the Air Force – in planning and synchronizing strikes.

The Israeli army says several AI-based defensive systems are also operational. These include “Rom,” which detects drones and UAVs; “Spatial Control,” which alerts ground forces to rocket and anti-tank fire; and “Tashan,” which identifies launches and impact points and locates the source of fire.

AI has also been integrated into Israel's national alert system, enabling predictions of where interception debris may fall.

The newspaper said a central component of the system is “MapIt,” a platform that displays real-time, three-dimensional operational data to commanders. It has learned that over the past year, the military has developed an additional layer on top of “MapIt,” consolidating all data streams into a single operational map.



Authorities in Ethiopia's Tigray State Denounce Army's Drone Strikes

Former Tigray elements undergoing rehabilitation and reintegration programs by the Ethiopian government (Archive – Ethiopian News Agency)
Former Tigray elements undergoing rehabilitation and reintegration programs by the Ethiopian government (Archive – Ethiopian News Agency)
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Authorities in Ethiopia's Tigray State Denounce Army's Drone Strikes

Former Tigray elements undergoing rehabilitation and reintegration programs by the Ethiopian government (Archive – Ethiopian News Agency)
Former Tigray elements undergoing rehabilitation and reintegration programs by the Ethiopian government (Archive – Ethiopian News Agency)

Tigray authorities on Tuesday accused the Ethiopian government of carrying out deadly drone strikes in southern Tigray state, denouncing "a serious escalation" amid fears of a new war.

"There was a drone strike carried out by the Ethiopian government yesterday (Monday) in Merewa," in southern Tigray near the border with the Amhara region, Amanuel Assefa, a Tigray People's Liberation Front (TPLF) official, told AFP.

In a statement sent to AFP on Tuesday, the TPLF said the strikes targeted Tigrayan troops "causing human casualties", without providing further details.

A spokesperson for the federal army has not yet responded to AFP's request for comment regarding the accusations.

Amanuel also claimed that the strikes hit a high school, which AFP was unable to independently verify.

For several months, federal and Tigrayan forces have gathered on either side of the border of Ethiopia's northernmost regional state, with the two sides accusing each other of seeking to trigger a new conflict.

On August 1, fighting pitted federal forces against TPLF troops in northwestern Tigray, near the border with Sudan, according to the TPLF.

The federal government has not commented on the matter.

Tigray, home to around six million people, emerged in 2022 from a two-year war between TPLF forces and the federal army, supported by local militias and the Eritrean army.

The conflict claimed at least 600,000 lives, according to an African Union estimate.

A peace agreement signed in November 2022 put an end to the fighting, but several key points, such as the return of displaced people or the disarmament of the TPLF, have never been implemented.


Ukraine Says Russia Fired N. Korean Missiles in Deadly Attack

Ukrainian rescuers work at the site of a Russian attack on a residential area in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, 11 August 2026. (EPA)
Ukrainian rescuers work at the site of a Russian attack on a residential area in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, 11 August 2026. (EPA)
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Ukraine Says Russia Fired N. Korean Missiles in Deadly Attack

Ukrainian rescuers work at the site of a Russian attack on a residential area in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, 11 August 2026. (EPA)
Ukrainian rescuers work at the site of a Russian attack on a residential area in Zaporizhzhia, Ukraine, 11 August 2026. (EPA)

Russian attacks across Ukraine killed at least nine people overnight and wounded dozens, Kyiv said Tuesday, accusing Moscow of launching North Korean missiles in the raid.

The allegation comes after Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelensky warned -- without providing evidence -- that Moscow was receiving more ballistic projectiles and troops from its ally Pyongyang.

Russia has turned to North Korea for support throughout its four-and-a-half-year invasion.

Earlier in the war, Pyongyang dispatched thousands of troops to help Russia fight back a Ukrainian counterattack into its western Kursk region.

Intelligence from the West, Kyiv and Seoul, has long accused North Korea of supplying weapons to Russia.

The southeastern city of Zaporizhzhia was worst hit in Russia's latest overnight barrage, with six people killed and 19 wounded, Zelensky said.

"The city was struck with North Korean ballistic missiles, Zircons, and guided aerial bombs. It was a vicious attack, calculated to inflict maximum damage specifically on civilian infrastructure," he said.

Three more were killed by Russian drones and missiles in the neighboring Dnipropetrovsk region, the local military administration said.

In the capital Kyiv, Zelensky said an infectious diseases hospital was hit, while strikes on the frontlines cities of Kherson and Kharkiv caused power outages.

A children's hospital in Kyiv was also hit, the health ministry said, posting photos of broken windows and debris in a courtyard.

"Children and medical staff were not harmed, as they were in a shelter at the time of the attack," the ministry said.

Russia's defense ministry said its forces "delivered a group strike with high-precision ground-based weapons, hitting military-industrial enterprises and transport-logistics centers in the cities of Kyiv and Zaporizhzhia".

- Zelensky's N. Korea warning -

Zelensky has recently renewed his warnings of deepening military ties between Moscow and Pyongyang, while appealing for more Western air-defense supplies.

On Monday, he said that Russia received "additional ballistic missiles from North Korea."

Over the weekend, he alleged "a decision has been made for 30,000 to 50,000 North Koreans to be deployed on the territory of Russia."

Kyiv has not explained how it obtained the figures and did not provide a timeframe for the deployment.

But Zelensky is urging allies in the Asia-Pacific to supply air defense to Kyiv in order to counter Pyongyang's capabilities.

Russia and North Korea signed a mutual defense pact in 2024, ahead of Pyongyang sending troops to help push Ukrainian forces out of Russia's Kursk region.

In recent weeks, Russia has considerably stepped-up strikes with ballistic missiles -- a fast and powerful weapon that is hard to intercept.

Dozens have been killed in Kyiv in the attacks.

Only the most advanced air defense, such as the US-made Patriot system, is capable of intercepting them.

Ukraine has been reporting an acute shortage of Patriot interceptors since the US-Israeli war against Iran began in February.

Kyiv has also boosted its own long-range drone strikes against Russia, hitting oil infrastructure and e-commerce warehouses in counterattacks it says are justified and designed to crimp Moscow's logistics and revenue sources.

The latest spiral of escalation has brought the civilian death toll in Ukraine to the highest since the war's first months in 2022, according to the United Nations.


Ceuta Leader Wants Migrant Detention Center after Influx

The future of the migrants left in Ceuta has sparked a battle between the leftist central government and regions governed by the right. Antonio Sempere / AFP
The future of the migrants left in Ceuta has sparked a battle between the leftist central government and regions governed by the right. Antonio Sempere / AFP
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Ceuta Leader Wants Migrant Detention Center after Influx

The future of the migrants left in Ceuta has sparked a battle between the leftist central government and regions governed by the right. Antonio Sempere / AFP
The future of the migrants left in Ceuta has sparked a battle between the leftist central government and regions governed by the right. Antonio Sempere / AFP

The leader of Ceuta demanded on Monday the detention and expulsion of the thousands of migrants wandering the Spanish north African territory's streets after last month's mass influx from Morocco.

Some 72,000 migrants breached the border in an unprecedented and deadly rush on July 30-31, with 70,000 having since returned to Morocco, according to Spanish government figures.

But the thousands who remain -- including hundreds of unaccompanied children who cannot be summarily deported -- struggle to access food, water, shelter and sanitation while the tiny enclave's resources are overwhelmed, AFP said.

Their future has sparked a political battle between Spain's leftist central government and regions governed by the main conservative Popular Party (PP) and far-right Vox, which resist taking in unaccompanied children under existing legal provisions.

"A space that acts as an internment center for foreigners must be set up, where these people can be held and remain confined," Ceuta's PP leader Juan Jesus Vivas told reporters.

He said the measure "must be achieved urgently" so that the migrants "are not in our streets and that expulsion proceedings can be handled with greater speed and ease".

Vivas called the situation "unsustainable", estimating that between 8,000 and 11,000 migrants were left in Ceuta, well above the government's figure of around 2,500.

Thousands of residents of the territory of 84,000 inhabitants gathered to protest on Sunday at the handling of a crisis that they say has left Ceuta insecure and abandoned.

The Spanish government minister responsible for relations with the regions, Angel Victor Torres, assured Ceuta's population that police and troop numbers had been ramped up, including 40 percent more Civil Guards.

Reuniting the children with their families was "the priority", he added, without mentioning the possibility of expulsions.