The Israeli military said Monday it is introducing a new technological system to enforce movement restrictions in the occupied West Bank for Israelis and Palestinians, a step Israeli media said is aimed at curbing surging settler violence.

The decision allows security forces “to install a technological monitoring device on individuals subject to an administrative order restricting their movement within the (West Bank),” the army said in a statement.

The system would allow authorities to monitor “violations of these restriction orders accordingly,” it said.

The move followed a request by Shin Bet domestic security chief David Zini in response to rising violence by Israeli settlers against Palestinians in the West Bank, Israel’s Channel 12 reported.

The monitoring devices will be electronic bracelets, according to the broadcaster.

In response to an AFP inquiry, the army said the measure will apply to Israelis and Palestinians alike.

Israel has occupied the territory since 1967. More than 500,000 Israelis now live there alongside about three million Palestinians.

The army said removing a monitoring device “constitutes an offense, for which criminal proceedings may be initiated.”

Honenu, an Israeli legal aid group that assists detainees from right-wing settler communities, condemned the decision and said it would appeal.

In a post on X, it quoted one of its lawyers calling it an “undemocratic move that reminds of the conduct of oppressive regimes.”

Administrative restriction orders bar suspects in the West Bank from entering certain areas or communicating with specific people.

A more severe measure, administrative detention, allows Israeli forces to hold West Bank suspects, Israeli or Palestinian, for up to six months without charge.

After taking office in November 2024, Defense Minister Israel Katz ended the practice for Israelis, but it remains in force for Palestinians.

Since the war in Gaza, violence has also escalated in the West Bank.

Despite a fragile truce between Israel and Hamas that took effect in October, the violence has continued.

Israeli troops and settlers have killed more than 1,000 Palestinians in the territory, including militants and dozens of civilians, according to an AFP tally based on Palestinian Health Ministry figures.

Nearly none of the perpetrators of dozens of settler attacks have been held accountable by Israeli authorities.

Israeli figures show at least 44 Israelis, soldiers and civilians, have also been killed in Palestinian attacks or Israeli military operations in the West Bank during the same period.