Israel used Palantir technologies in pager attack in Lebanon

Summary

In September of 2024, Israel blew up boobie trapped pagers belonging to Hezbollah figures in public places in Lebanon, killing 12 people, including two children and two healthcare workers, and injuring 2,800. The attack was followed by another attack using explosives in walkie-talkies that killed 25 people and injured another 600. The Associated Press reported that the attacks “wounded many civilians” and that survivors are left “with missing eyes, faces laced with scars, hands with missing fingers”. The United Nations at the time noted that the attacks “constitute war crimes of murder, attacking civilians, and launching indiscriminate attacks, in addition to violating the right to life” adding that, “Around 500 people suffered severe eye injuries, including a diplomat. Others suffered grave injuries to their faces, hands and bodies” and that “It is also a war crime to commit violence intended to spread terror among civilians, including to intimidate or deter them from supporting an adversary, A climate of fear now pervades everyday life in Lebanon”. At the time, when asked about the attacks, former CIA director Leon Panetta said, “I don’t think there’s any question that it’s a form of terrorism”. Now, a new book quietly reveals that Israel carried out the terrorist attack with the help of the AI surveillance firm Palantir, led by Alex Karp and Peter Thiel. In the new biography of Palantir co-founder Alex Karp, “The Philosopher in the Valley: Alex Karp, Palantir, and the Rise of the Surveillance State,” by New York Times journalist Michael Steinberger, he writes that prior to the genocide in Gaza, “the Mossad had been using Palantir technology,” adding that the Shin Bet and IDF, “ sought to obtain Palantir’s software in the wake of Ocotber 7th”. He goes on to write that, “The demand for Palantir’s assistance was so great that the company dispatched a a team of engineers from London to help get Israeli users online,” adding, “Palantir ended up having to rent a second...