Army OKs tracking bracelets to enforce West Bank restraining orders as settler attacks spike

The IDF authorized the use of electronic monitoring bracelets to enforce restraining orders in the West Bank, in an apparent attempt to crack down on Jewish extremists in the territory.

IDF Central Command head Maj. Gen. Avi Bluth signed an order for the use of such technological monitoring devices, the military and Shin Bet announced in a joint statement Monday.

The measure is meant to replace administrative detention — the practice of holding terror suspects without charge in cases where authorities believe revealing evidence would harm national security. Last year, the government decided to stop detaining Jewish suspects under the practice. Thousands of Palestinian suspects are held in administrative detention, according to rights groups.

While Monday’s statement did not specify who would be subject to the electronic monitoring, the move appeared to target extremist settler activists, often known as “hilltop youth,” after a spike in attacks against Palestinians and IDF troops in recent months.

The step follows reports in November that Shin Bet chief David Zini recommended approving the use of electronic monitoring bracelets on extremist settlers. Zini was said to view the measure as more effective than existing restraining orders that bar suspects from entering the West Bank.

According to the security agencies, the decision followed directives from Israel’s political echelon and coordinated staff work involving the IDF, Shin Bet, Israel Police, Justice Ministry, and the legal adviser for the West Bank.

The order allows authorities to mandate the installation of “technological monitoring measures” on individuals under administrative orders restricting their movement in the West Bank, and to monitor violations of those restraining orders accordingly.

Officials stressed that breaching the restraining orders or damaging the monitoring equipment would constitute a criminal offense and could lead to prosecution.

The Honenu legal aid organization, which often represents suspects affiliated with the hilltop youth, said it will appeal the order. It noted that a teenage minor in the West Bank was already fitted with a tracking bracelet. The youth was taken to a police station where the device was attached, it said.

In a statement, Honenu lawyers representing the minor said it was “a draconian and undemocratic measure that recalls the behaviour of dark regimes that track citizens.”

2025 saw a surge in attacks by settler extremists on Palestinians and their property across the West Bank. The Israel Defense Forces recorded at least 752 incidents of nationalistic crime and settler violence during the calendar year that just ended. The total for 2024 was 675 incidents.

The attacks, which occur on a near-daily basis, largely go unchecked. Prosecutions of Jewish extremists are rare, and convictions are even rarer. Critics have accused the government, described as the most hardline in Israel’s history, of shrugging off the attacks.