In your recent article for The Baffler, you describe how in late September, Israeli military

representatives took Admiral Rob Bauer, the chair of NATO's military committee, on a tour of

Israel's security architecture around Gaza, showing him the Gaza-Israel barrier, the IDF's automated

weaponry and various surveillance systems. Ten days after that tour, Hamas militants launched Operation Alaksa Flood

and breached the Gaza fence in more than 80 places

and then killed hundreds of Israeli soldiers and civilians.

Can you describe what Bauer would have seen on that tour

and what Israel's security systems around Gaza consisted of prior to October 7th?

Israel's security systems around Gaza have, since the blockade began,

have been heralded as one of the world's most advanced

and technologically sophisticated security and surveillance apparatus.

So Bauer would have seen now in 2023 a whole different set of automated surveillance

systems. This includes cameras, biometric cameras. There's sensors that go underneath the ground,

aerial sensors that can sense objects moving above ground, sensors that go out into the sea to detect any sort of

movement in the sea. In recent years, they've implemented automated jeeps that can patrol the

territory. They have automated machine gun turrets in sniper outposts that can shoot without

having any soldiers actually deployed in those towers. It's really kind of the

fantasy of militarism and the age of AI. It's a whole host of automated surveillance systems,

automated weaponry. There's automated drones and automated drone swarms that patrol the area as well.

And the actual events was about a $1.1 billion endeavor just because of how high-tech the systems actually are.

It was a huge amount of resources.

It had, I think, one military general boasted that there was enough concrete to pave a road from Israel to Bulgaria that was put into the wall.

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