Israel will use electronic bracelets to monitor movement restrictions in the West Bank, a measure aimed at reducing rising settler attacks on Palestinians.
JERUSALEM: The Israeli army announced on Monday it will introduce a new electronic monitoring system to enforce movement restrictions in the occupied West Bank.
The system allows security forces to fit individuals with a technological device if they are subject to an administrative order limiting their movement.
It will enable authorities to monitor violations of these restriction orders accordingly.
Israeli broadcaster Channel 12 reported the measure was adopted after a request by Shin Bet security agency head David Zini to address rising settler violence.
The monitoring devices will be electronic bracelets, according to the report.
In response to an AFP query, the army confirmed the measure will apply to both Israelis and Palestinians.
Israel has occupied the West Bank since 1967, where over 500,000 Israelis and about three million Palestinians now live.
The army stated that removing any monitoring device constitutes a criminal offense.
Israeli legal aid group Honenu, which assists right-wing detainees, slammed the decision and said it would appeal.
In a post on X, it quoted a lawyer calling it an “undemocratic move that reminds of the conduct of oppressive regimes”.
Administrative orders bar suspects in the West Bank from entering certain areas or contacting specific people.
A more severe measure, administrative detention, allows detention without charge for up to six months.
Defence Minister Israel Katz abolished its use against Israelis upon taking office in November 2024, but it remains in force for Palestinians.
Violence has surged in the West Bank since the Gaza war began following Hamas’s October 2023 attack on Israel.
The violence has continued despite a delicate truce that took effect in October.
Israeli troops and settlers have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians in the territory, according to an AFP tally of Palestinian health ministry figures.
Almost none of the perpetrators of dozens of settler attacks have been held accountable by Israeli authorities.
Official Israeli figures state at least 44 Israelis have also been killed in Palestinian attacks or military operations there in the same period.
