Israel installs remote-controlled weapons system at Hebron checkpoint, alarming Palestinians
Israel installs remote-controlled weapons system at Hebron checkpoint, alarming Palestinians
The weapons system at the Shuhada Street checkpoint can shoot stun grenades and tear gas as well as sponge-tipped bullets, according to a report.
2 min read
Many extremist Israeli settlers live on Shuhada Street where the remote control weapon was installed [Issa Amro/Youth Against Settlements]
Ìýforces recently placed a remotely controlled weapons system atÌýa checkpoint in in the occupied West Bank, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.
The device has caused anxiety toÌýPalestinians living on , aÌýlocation where many extremist Israeli settlers, who regularly harass Palestinians, live.
The remote-controlled systemÌýis made by the company Smart Shooter andÌýcan shoot stun grenades and tear gas as well as sponge-tipped bullets.
"The system was placed in the centre of a heavily populated area, with hundreds of people passing by," Youth Against Settlements founder Issa Amro, who is from Hebron, told Haaretz.
"Any failure of this technology could impact many people."
Amro said he views this as "part of a transition from human to technological control" and said Palestinians have become a means for Israel's "military hi-tech industry" to experiment and train on.
A spokesperson for Israel's military told Haaretz it was "examining the possibility of using remotely controlled systems for the employment of approved measures of crowd dispersal", which "does not include remote control of live gunfire".
This was part of the military's "improved preparations" for opposing those "disrupting order in the area", the spokesperson said.
Hebron is a particularly hostile environment for Palestinians due to a large number of Israeli settlers in the city
— °®Âþµº (@The_NewArab)
Israel routinelyÌýreceivesÌýglobal criticism for its use ofÌýadvanced technologies against Palestinians.
According to a 2021 Washington Post report, it has started employing a facial recognition system named "Blue Wolf" against Palestinians in the West Bank.
The technology relies on information such as identity numbers and addresses but also the negative perceptions of Israeli soldiers towards the behaviour of Palestinians they come across.
Ìýforces alsoÌýstarted using a drone in 2018 that can fire tear gas at protesters in the besieged Gaza Strip.
Last year, it sent a "semi-autonomous robot" with a machine gun to the frontier between Gaza and Israel, according toÌýThe Defense Post.
Ìý
