Occupied West Bank Palestinians 'exhausted' by intense Israeli surveillance
Palestinians living in the occupied West Bank say they are psychologically exhausted as Israel takes photos of them without their consent, not knowing what they do with their data. | Rotating cameras planted on a rooftop terrace "follow our every move", said Al Khalil resident Umm Nasser, protesting intensified Israeli surveillance of her occupied West Bank city since the start of Israel's war on besieged Gaza. 💬 "Psychologically, I'm exhausted," admitted the 55-year-old Palestinian woman. She lives above the Abu al Rish checkpoint, the site of frequent violence at the heart of historical Al Khalil. [...] Umm Nasser said that surveillance enhanced by artificial intelligence tools has become "especially difficult during the war" between Israel and the Palestinian resistance group Hamas in besieged Gaza. To Umm Nasser, the use of technology is stifling. 💬 "We've tried putting pieces of wood or fabric over the cameras to maintain our privacy, but every time, the army removes them," she said. "One day, soldiers took our identity cards and told us they were going to use them for a facial recognition system." She said she hadn't heard about it since.