Israel installs remote-controlled weapons system at Hebron checkpoint, alarming Palestinians

Israeli forces recently placed a remotely controlled weapons system at a checkpoint in Hebron in the occupied West Bank, Israeli newspaper Haaretz reported.

The device has caused anxiety to Palestinians living on Shuhada Street, a location where many extremist Israeli settlers, who regularly harass Palestinians, live.

The remote-controlled system is made by the company Smart Shooter and can 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 https://t.co/qJSPbs0d94

— The New Arab (@The_NewArab) May 5, 2022

Israel routinely receives global criticism for its use of advanced 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.

Israeli forces also started 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 to The Defense Post.