Nov 24, 2023 21:00:00

It has been pointed out that Israel is automating the monitoring and control of the daily lives of Palestinians with its cutting-edge 'Wolf Pack'

Hebron , located in the West Bank of the Palestinian Authority, is a land known as one of the holy cities of Judaism, Christianity, and Islam. Israel's strict surveillance and control of Palestinians is carried out in Hebron, using cutting-edge technology. A video compiled by Qatari media Al Jazeera has been released showing the reality of the surveillance of Palestinians being carried out in Hebron.

How Israel automated occupation in Hebron | The Listening Post - YouTube


Hebron, located in the West Bank of the Palestinian Authority, is a land known as one of the holy cities of various religions. The land is home to a variety of people, including not only Palestinians but also Israeli settlers and an illegal Jewish community.

As you walk through the streets of Hebron, you will come across Israeli soldiers in military uniforms everywhere.

Checkpoints and surveillance cameras are also installed everywhere.

A soldier's voice says, ``Scanning is in progress, we will verify your identity.''

Although it is a Palestinian territory, the Israeli flag is being flown.

What makes Hebron unique is that unlike other Palestinian cities, it has a large number of Israeli settlers. Soldiers and settlers join arms and joyfully celebrate Jewish holidays.

On the other hand, Tariq Nafi of

The Listening Post points out that the Palestinians in Hebron are ``the most strictly monitored and controlled in the world.''

Locals in a celebratory mood and military personnel with firearms monitoring the situation.

This is a landscape that is very unfamiliar to Japanese people.

A small child passes through a checkpoint set up in the city.

Hebron, located in the West Bank, was divided into east and west by the Israeli military in 1997. The west side is 'H1' and the east side is 'H2'. Although H2 is part of the Palestinian Authority, it is effectively under Israeli control.

H2 can be classified into three categories: 'Sterile Areas', 'Military Areas', and 'Israeli Settlements'. There are 800 Israeli settlers and 40,000 Palestinians living here, and strict surveillance and control is carried out by the Israeli military to protect the 800 settlers.

According to journalist Sophia Goodfriend, there are a large number of surveillance cameras installed in Hebron, which are used by Israeli military intelligence to constantly monitor Palestinians 24 hours a day, 365 days a year.

No matter where you go in the city, there is Israeli military surveillance, and checkpoints strictly restrict people's entry and exit.

Surveillance cameras installed on the street. Cameras are also installed on the roofs of houses, and there are cases in which Israeli soldiers forcefully install cameras without obtaining permission from homeowners.

A wire fence to restrict the entry and exit of people from outside the checkpoint.

Palestinians continue to face violence from Israeli forces and settlers in Hebron.

Attacks on Palestinians by Israeli settlers have increased by 200% in the past five years, and attacks are occurring almost every day in Hebron.

Clashes between Israeli forces and Palestinians continue, with hundreds of vehicles being scrapped in one night.

According to activist Izzat Karaki, there are 22 Israeli military checkpoints in Hebron.

Even though Israeli soldiers in the city remember the faces of civilians, they seem to ask for their IDs more than 10 times a day. Therefore, if Israeli soldiers wanted to ruin a Palestinian's day, they could easily do so.

Regarding the surveillance and control from Israel, local resident Um Tamer said, ``Because of the pressure from Israel, we don't really feel like we are living here.Customers don't want to come to our house. No one comes to our house during

Eid al-Adha . Even my family is afraid to visit my house. Settlers (from Israel) come from one direction and from another. You can see the cameras pressuring us from all directions. We feel like we're being watched everywhere we go in Tel Rumeida . We're always being watched no matter where we are. , I can't live like this.''

Matt Mahmoudi, a researcher and advisor for

Amnesty International, the world's largest international human rights NGO, said that the surveillance system consisting of surveillance cameras installed by the Israeli military throughout the city has turned Hebron into a ``digitally controlled cyber prison''. It turned out like this,” he said.

In addition, autonomous smart shooters are increasingly being installed at checkpoints.

The Israeli military uses surveillance cameras installed throughout the city and machine learning systems to automatically create a database of residents. Of course, only Palestinians are registered in this monitoring database, and Israeli settlers are not included. Surveillance systems are installed throughout Hebron, and there are three systems with different roles.

A system called 'Red Wolf' is installed at 22 checkpoints in Hebron.

This is a biometric authentication system used to verify the identity of Palestinians visiting checkpoints. Palestinians who enter the checkpoint stand in front of the camera as shown below.

Then, the Israeli military can check the identity from the database. It seems that identification documents and brief biographies are also registered in the database.

Another surveillance system is Blue Wolf, a facial recognition system.

This app is installed on the smartphones of Israeli soldiers and is used to take pictures of Palestinians in the streets and register them in a surveillance database.

The third one is White Wolf, an app that allows Israeli settlers to check the work permits of Palestinians.

The collective name of the Palestinian monitoring system that combines these three systems is ``Wolf Pack'', which is a monitoring database whose purpose is to profile all Palestinians living in Hebron. In addition, it seems that information such as Palestinian names, addresses, family composition, car license plate information, and whether they are wanted criminals is registered in the Wolf Pack.

A training video to teach Israeli soldiers how to use the Blue Wolf has also been leaked.

According to testimony from Israeli veterans, the Israeli military is paying incentives to soldiers to encourage them to register Palestinians using Blue Wolf. Nafi worries that

gamification is designed to encourage Israeli soldiers to actively monitor Palestinians.

The history of monitoring Palestinians dates back more than 100 years to when the country was colonized by Britain. Britain first occupied Hebron in 1917, and the handbook for the occupation of Palestine created at that time contains multiple elements that form the basis of current monitoring of Palestinians.

Since then, as techniques and technologies have evolved, surveillance of Palestinians has evolved from basic intelligence gathering to more sophisticated digital surveillance, including spyware, email and text message interception, and the construction of comprehensive databases. .

Palestinians are also subject to surveillance not only by the Israeli military but also by Israeli settlers. Israeli settlers appear to be monitoring Palestinians using security cameras installed in their homes and drones.

In addition, an organization called One Israel Fund has installed drones and cameras at major intersections in the West Bank and is helping to fund surveillance technology used by settlers. Drones seem to be used to remotely monitor villages where Palestinians live. It also supports shooting with an infrared camera, allowing you to shoot in dark places.

Regarding the surveillance of these Palestinians, the Israeli military stated, ``As part of the fight against terrorism and efforts to improve the quality of life of Palestinian residents, the Israeli Defense Forces conduct daily security maintenance activities. 'We cannot comment on the operational capabilities of the Israel Defense Forces in this context.'

The Israeli military claims that the surveillance system is necessary for counterterrorism and maintaining public order, but the video points out that this surveillance raises serious ethical issues in terms of privacy, human rights, and the political environment.

It also points out that the use of advanced surveillance technology in conflict zones can lead to

apartheid and human rights abuses that target specific ethnic or racial groups.