Israel to introduce electronic tagging in West Bank

JERUSALEM, Jan 06 (AFP): The Israeli army said Monday it was introducing a new technological system to enforce movement restrictions in the occupied West Bank for both Israelis and Palestinians, in a move Israeli media said aims to rein in surging settler violence.

The decision allows security forces "to install a technological monitoring device on individuals subject to an administrative order restricting their movement within the (West Bank)," the army said in a statement.

The system would allow for monitoring of "violations of these restriction orders accordingly," it added.

The measure was adopted after a request by head of the domestic Shin Bet security agency David Zini in response to rising violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank, Israel's Channel 12 reported.

The monitoring devices used will be electronic bracelets, according to the Israeli broadcaster.

In response to an AFP query, the army said the measure will be applied to Israelis and Palestinians alike.

Israel has occupied the Palestinian territory since 1967, and now more than 500,000 Israelis live there, along with about three million Palestinian residents.

The army said removing any monitoring device "constitutes an offense, for which criminal proceedings may be initiated".

Honenu, an Israeli legal aid organisation that assists detainees from right-wing settler communities, slammed the decision and said it would appeal.

In a post on X, it quoted one of its lawyers saying it was an "undemocratic move that reminds of the conduct of oppressive regimes".