Israel is using artificial-intelligence surveillance tools to monitor Palestinian land and identify alleged unauthorised structures in the occupied West Bank, according to researchers and rights activists. They say the technology is helping authorities move more quickly from detecting changes to warnings and demolitions.
The system includes ImiSight, a product developed by Israeli weapons manufacturer Rafael. It was initially used in Israel’s Naqab desert and has since been brought to the West Bank, where Palestinians face major obstacles in obtaining building permits.
What the technology does
ImiSight monitors large areas and detects changes in the landscape that can be classified as unauthorised construction. Newer satellites can also process images in orbit using onboard chips and AI, identifying changes and sending selected results to Earth rather than transmitting all raw imagery for later analysis.
Khaled Safi, a Palestinian digital media and technology expert, described this as “edge computing”: processing information where it is created. Amir Daoud of the Colonisation and Wall Resistance Commission said the algorithm acts as a “force multiplier” by scanning broad areas, prioritising targets and enabling a faster path to enforcement.
Key figures
- More than 10,700 square kilometres surveyed by ImiSight in the Naqab, according to Israeli media reports cited in the material.
- More than 2,600 Palestinian Bedouin citizens of Israel were forcibly evicted in connection with that surveying, according to the same reports.
- An average of 966 Palestinian buildings were demolished annually from 2023 to 2025 in Area C of the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem.
- Israeli forces destroyed 1,288 Palestinian structures between January and September 2025.
Why rights groups say the impact is growing
Peace Now and Kerem Navot documented an 80 percent increase in demolitions in Area C and occupied East Jerusalem when comparing 2010–2022 with 2023–2025. Those areas are under complete Israeli military and administrative control, according to the material.
An Israel Land Authority enforcement unit was established in April 2025 to operate in the West Bank. Peace Now called the move a step towards annexation and said the agency uses advanced technology based on artificial intelligence to detect alleged encroachments. Read the context: Tender advances Israel’s E1 settlement project in the West Bank.
The wider enforcement system also includes settler patrols, drones and cameras. The Israeli government allocated 33 million shekels to settler patrols and 40 million shekels to equip outposts with drones and cameras in 2023, according to the material. Safi warned that removing meaningful human review from decisions affecting vulnerable communities could disperse responsibility between an algorithm and the institutions using it.
The broader settlement context
The use of automated surveillance coincides with settlement expansion. Between 2023 and 2025, the Israeli government advanced plans for more than 40,000 settler housing units and established 185 new outposts, while 118 Palestinian shepherding communities were expelled from the West Bank during the same period. Related coverage: Israeli forces kill two Palestinians during clashes over West Bank fires.
The material also cites an online land registry launched in Area C, which Palestinian authorities condemned as a digital mechanism for administrative annexation. Israeli forces recorded 1,836 settler attacks against Palestinians in 2025, according to figures attributed to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs and Peace Now.
What happens next
The Israeli military and Rafael had been contacted for comment but had not responded at the time of publication.
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