Coercive Digital Identity: Emerging Violations and the Unlawful Expansion of Tools of Control over the Palestinian People
11/08/2026 – Union for Justice Foundation
Over the past several years, the Palestinian territories have witnessed the emergence of advanced digital surveillance systems that rely on artificial intelligence to monitor the movements of Palestinians, classify them, and analyze their daily behavior, without any lawful or legitimate basis for such use or oversight. These practices constitute a flagrant violation of international humanitarian law and international human rights law, as they impose upon the occupying power a duty to protect civilians and uphold their fundamental rights in accordance with Article 27 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which requires the occupying power to respect protected persons and safeguard their dignity and security.
This digital system collects personal and biometric data through high-tech cameras and facial-recognition software, and creates digital profiles that include individuals’ daily movements and social relationships. This amounts to arbitrary interference in private life, contrary to Article 17 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which provides that “No one shall be subjected to arbitrary or unlawful interference with his privacy, family, home or correspondence, nor to unlawful attacks upon his honour and reputation.” Furthermore, using such data as a basis for determining individuals’ fate, preventing them from moving freely, imposing restrictions on their access to certain places, or subjecting them to detention on the basis of an undisclosed digital assessment constitutes collective punishment, which is prohibited under Article 33 of the Fourth Geneva Convention, which prohibits holding civilians responsible for acts they have not committed.
These practices also result in the creation of what may be described as a coercive digital identity for every Palestinian, which determines their freedom of movement and monitors their daily lives, without any legal framework specifying the purpose for which the data are collected, the period for which they are retained, or the authority responsible for overseeing them. This is inconsistent with Article 12 of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights, which guarantees every person the right to freedom of movement and permits restrictions only when they are lawful and necessary under the applicable conditions. In addition, these measures violate the fundamental principles of privacy and digital protection recognized at the international level, including the United Nations Declaration on Human Rights in the Digital Age, which protects the right to privacy and the protection of personal data.
The Union for Justice Foundation’s team concluded that these practices represent a qualitative shift in the nature of the violation: it is no longer limited to traditional military control, but has evolved into comprehensive and continuous surveillance of individuals, affecting their dignity and fundamental rights. The team affirmed that the use of technology in this manner constitutes an explicit breach of international humanitarian law and requires urgent action at the international level, including submitting observations to international human rights bodies and calling for the establishment of clear legal safeguards to prevent the use of artificial intelligence as a tool for controlling civilian populations outside the framework of the law.
The team’s assessment indicates that this type of digital surveillance could pave the way for further violations in the future, such as the collection of biometric data without consent or the targeting of vulnerable groups, including children, women, and older persons, thereby increasing the risks to human rights. Accordingly, the Union calls for the activation of United Nations human rights mechanisms, the monitoring of the use of digital technologies by the occupation authorities, and the continuous documentation of these violations to ensure accountability for those responsible and to halt policies that violate the fundamental rights of the civilian population.
End
