October 7, with a death toll of more than# 18,000.

That's according to the Gaza Health## Ministry.

A recent investigative report finds# that Israel is deliberately targeting civilian## infrastructure in Gaza, with the goal of# ramping up civilian pressure on Hamas.

That's one of the many takeaways in reporting by# the independent nonpartisan Israeli publication## "+972" magazine and the Hebrew-language# outlet Local Call.

It also includes## interviews with several current and former# sources in Israel's intelligence community.

The lead reporter, investigative journalist# Yuval Abraham, joins us now from Jerusalem.

Thank you for being with us.

Your reporting focuses o determines the number of civilian deaths# that are acceptable.

What did you find?

YUVAL ABRAHAM, "+972": The military has# this term called collateral damage degrees,## which dictates how many civilians it is# allowing soldiers to kill per strike.

So even if the civilians are not the targets,## the amount that is allowed to be killed according to sources in this operation, the# military has largely abandoned previous protocols,## and now it is allowing soldiers, according# to sources, to knowingly kill hundreds,## several hundred Palestinian civilians in an# attempt to assassinate one senior Hamas member.

GEOFF BENNETT: How has that# changed post-October 7?

The U.S. military has a similar process, a# CDE, a collateral damage estimate.

laws of war dictate that the military advantage# has to be proportionate to the civilian -- the## impact on civilians, civilian casualties.

How does# Israel make that assessment, that determination?

YUVAL ABRAHAM: So, in the past, according to# sources, for a single assassination attempt,## dozens of Palestinian civilians would be# allowed to be killed.

This has become 10## times or 20 times the number that was# allowed in the past after October 7.

Also, with regards to a particular category# of targets that are called power targets,## that's according to sources, in the past, as# you have said in the introduction, were bombed## in order to create this civilian pressure on# Hamas.

So, nine power targets were bombed in## 2021.

And in this operation, we know that more# than 1,000 power targets were already bombed.

So we are seeing a lot of criteria that## was already in place in previous# GE OFF BENNETT: You also report extensively# about the role of artificial intelligence## in all of this, that the IDF has an A.I.# target creation platform called the Gospel,## which has significantly accelerated# the identification of military targets.

How does it work and what's# the impact on the ground?

YUVAL ABRAHAM: Now, sources have described the# Gospel as essentially while a human is in the loop somewhere,## they are spending much less time per# target actually analyz One source, for example, told me that they# were being judged not by the quality of## the targets they were creating, but by# the quantity of the targets that were## being created using these A.I.-powered# systems and this process of automation.

The result is that, according to military sources,# Israel has bombed really an unprecedented amount## of targets in Gaza.

And I think we are# seeing the results on the ground in Gaza.

GEOFF BENNETT: The IDF did not# immediately respond to our request## for comment.

Does the IDF deny or# dispute anything in your YU VAL ABRAHAM: Not directly.

I mean IDF said that it is abiding by international# law, that it is doing everything in its power## to protect Palestinian civilians in Gaza.

Again,# according to sources from within the military,## from within the intelligence# community, this is just not true.

They have spoken about completely disproportionate# strikes, knowingly killing hundreds of a general atmosphere that they felt was partially# motivated by revenge for the horrors of October## 7.

As a matter of fact, one source said that the# only thing that he felt was actually limiting the## death of civilians in Gaza was international# pressure, and specifically U.S. pressure.

GEOFF BENNETT: Yuval, give us a sense, without,# obviously, revealing your sources, who did you## talk to in this reporting?

And walk us through the# process of how you pieced YUVAL ABRAHAM: Yes, so the investigation is# based on conversations I have had with seven## sources from Israel's intelligence community.

Some of them are current sources that are# stil some of them former sources that have# taken part in previous operations.

These## are whistle-blowers.

So, essentially, they're not# going to be willing to reveal their identities.

I feel part of the reason why some of them# spoke was that they were shocked by some## of the things that they were asked to do.

One# source described how, previously, for example,## protocols in the military would say# that before, carrying out a strike,## you would have to have a very precise# pinpointing of where the target is.

After October 7, the source said they# were actually carrying out strikes based## on a wide approximation, and they bombed a# very wide radius, again, knowingly killing## civilians.

And these are sources that are# in the military.

They obviously care about## the security of Israelis, but they felt that# what was going on was unjustifiabl And I think this is part of the reason why# they were willing to speak out against it.

GEOFF BENNETT: Investigative# journalist Yuval Abraham,## thank you for sharing your reporting with YUVAL ABRAHAM: Thank you very much.