Families of Israeli hostages held by Hamas cling to digital clues

Refael Franco, the former deputy head of the National Cyber Directorate, is overseeing the construction of the group's platform, which is based on cutting-edge AI and facial recognition technology. It is a sophisticated system that cross-checks images posted by militants posted on social media against photos of the hostages provided by families. When a match occurs, the system can geolocate -- within seconds -- the approximate location of a missing person. Open-source intelligence experts then try to zero in further, relying on contextual clues like mosques, local shops or the angle of the sun.