AL-QUDS (Dispatches) – The Zionist regime is taking steps towards over-policing and increasing its surveillance of the Palestinian population under the pretext of ‘curbing the high crime rate’ within the community, Palestinians say.
In the latest measure, the occupying regime’s cabinet approved a proposal on Sunday granting troops with what Palestinians view as overly broad powers – allowing them to freely search homes without a court warrant – “if they think they can find a suspect or evidence related to a serious crime”, according to media.
The bill, proposed by minister Gideon Saar, comes after a decision last month to deploy the regime’s internal spy agency, known as Shabak or Shin Bet, in Palestinian towns and villages as part of its “fight against crime”.
With the cabinet’s support, the bill will be voted on in the regime’s parliament – the Knesset – before becoming a law. It is not yet clear whether the proposal will get a majority vote.
Hassan Jabareen, founder and director of Adalah, the main Palestinian legal defense organization inside the occupied territories, said the bill will give troops the pretext to search any Palestinian home.
“In practice, they will be able to go into the majority of Arab homes, because in every [Arab] neighborhood and town, there are shootings and killings,” Hassan told Al Jazeera. “It’s enough for them to be suspicious to do so.”
He said it means there would be “no judicial supervision” over the operation of entering into homes, which “strips homes of their sanctity”.
“This will allow the police to even enter homes and use them for maneuvering, for example, if they are suspicious of the house next door,” continued Hassan.
During the past decade, the issue of crime and homicides has plagued the Palestinian community inside the occupied territories, referred to as the “1948-occupied territories” or the “occupied interior” by Palestinians.
The number of killings has risen dramatically over the past few years. So far in 2021, more than 100 Palestinians have been killed in homicides, surpassing last year’s total of 97. In 2013, there were 53 killings.