A new report by Amnesty International has shed light on how the Israeli government is using facial recognition technology in the West Bank to monitor and control Palestinians — and it’s sparking major global concern.
Cameras That Decide Who Passes
At military checkpoints in cities like Hebron, Palestinians are now required to look into facial recognition cameras before being allowed to cross. These systems, powered by software called Red Wolf, use a color-coded alert system:
- Green means the person can pass.
- Yellow suggests questioning.
- Red can mean arrest.
- If the system doesn’t recognize someone, soldiers manually input their information, adding them to a growing database.
Who Is Being Watched?
The surveillance reportedly focuses almost entirely on Palestinians. Amnesty International describes this as a form of “automated apartheid,” where a population is divided and monitored by ethnicity through technology. The report is based on interviews with Palestinians, former Israeli soldiers, and on-site observations in heavily surveilled areas.
Israel’s military denies operating an apartheid system but says its operations are necessary for security, including the use of AI and other tech. However, they didn’t comment specifically on the facial recognition tools mentioned.
The Bigger Picture
This kind of tech-powered monitoring isn’t new. China has used similar systems to track ethnic minorities like the Uyghurs. And now, Israel is joining that conversation, using facial recognition through:
- Red Wolf, at checkpoints
- Blue Wolf, a phone app soldiers use to photograph and register Palestinians
- Mabat 2000, a large surveillance camera network in East Jerusalem
Amnesty researchers say in some places, there’s a surveillance camera every 15 feet. These cameras come from companies like China’s Hikvision and the Netherlands’ TKH Security.
Daily Life Under Watch
Palestinians say the constant monitoring affects every part of their lives. Activist Issa Amro, who lives in Hebron, says the military regularly uses the Blue Wolf app to scan his face — even during home raids. Drones fly overhead, and the city is lined with cameras. He says everything comes to a standstill at checkpoints when the tech fails, showing just how dependent the system has become on automation.
According to Amro, “My whole life is watched. I don’t have any privacy.” He also says these systems seem to track only Palestinians, while crimes committed by Israeli settlers often go unchecked.
A Shift Toward Automated Control
According to former Israeli soldier Ori Givati, who now works with the group Breaking the Silence, the surveillance systems started rolling out around 2020. He says this shift marks a move toward an “automated occupation,” where technology does the work of policing — but without oversight, fairness, or accountability.
Givati warns, this isn’t just about surveillance: “It’s a powerful tool for control.”
Source:
https://www.amnesty.org/en/documents/mde15/6701/2023/en/
https://www.washingtonpost.com/world/middle_east/israel-palestinians-su…
https://www.nytimes.com/2019/04/14/technology/china-surveillance-artifi…
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