Israel’s military has been accused of recklessly playing with the lives of ordinary Palestinians as it pilots a robotic machine gun at a checkpoint in the West Bank.

Fitted with stun grenades and sponge-tipped bullets, the so-called Smash machine gun uses artificial intelligence to track targets and fire at them accurately, according to its manufacturers.

The Israeli military has reportedly said the machine gun has been deployed as part of a pilot scheme in the city of Hebron and has not been fitted with live ammunition.

Hebron, a bitterly divided city in the southern West Bank, is the scene of frequent clashes between Jewish settlers, backed by the Israeli army, and Palestinians. The largest city in the West Bank, it has a Palestinian population of around 200,000 and Jewish one of around 800.

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The machine gun has been installed on Shuhada Street, where there are frequent demonstrations by Palestinians against Jewish settlers and the Israeli army. It appears to have been deployed to disperse such gatherings if they become violent.

Smart Shooter, the manufacturer of the weapon, describes it as “an automatic targeting and firing system for small arms”. It can be attached to any rifle and takes only “minutes to master”.

Read more: The Telegraph