Israeli military admits to posting AI photo of Lebanese journalist it killed
The Foreign Press Association has accused the Israeli military of discrediting a Lebanese journalist it killed in March, by using an AI-generated photo to present him as a "Hezbollah terrorist". The Israel Defence Forces claimed responsibility for killing Ali Shoeib in a targeted Israeli air strike in southern Lebanon.
France 24 — The Israel Defence Forces claimed responsibility for killing Ali Shoeib in a targeted Israeli air strike in southern Lebanon. It then shared an edited photo of him on social media, overlaying his press vest with a Hezbollah uniform, saying a "press vest is just a cover for terror". The Israeli army did not provide evidence to support its allegation that Shoeib had a military role with Hezbollah , prompting the Foreign Press Association to declare that the use of artificial intelligence "raises questions about the credibility of other visual handout materials it distributes".
When asked by Fox News about the source of this photo, the IDF admitted the image was "photoshopped". Military spokesman Lieutenant Colonel Nadav Shoshani acknowledged online that the previous image was "edited," and posted a second, blurry picture claiming it showed Shoeib in Hezbollah fatigues next to a tank. It is difficult to verify the image's authenticity, given its quality.
Shoshani told Israeli newspaper Haaretz that the photoshopped photo was a "digital illustration," and when asked if it was justified to kill a journalist during his journalistic work, he insisted Shoeib was a military target approved by legal advisers. There has been no evidence presented that Shoeib was a Hezbollah combatant. Under international law, journalists enjoy the same protections as civilians as long as they do not engage in hostilities.
According to the protections, even media used for propaganda purposes cannot be considered military objectives, except in special cases, as Vedika Bahl explains in Truth or Fake.