Israel Implements Facial Recognition to Control Aid in Gaza
TEHRAN (Tasnim) – Israel has approved a controversial plan mandating facial recognition scans for Palestinians seeking humanitarian aid in Gaza, a move condemned by the United Nations and rights groups as a violation of basic humanitarian principles.
The Israeli cabinet has ratified new restrictions on the delivery of food and aid in Gaza, requiring Palestinians to undergo facial recognition scans before receiving supplies.
“Palestinians would be coming to these places, registered and screened through facial recognition technology. They’d pick up parcels for their family,” said NPR journalist Daniel Estrin.
Israeli officials claim the policy is designed to prevent Hamas from accessing aid.
However, Estrin quoted an Israeli source stating the program is part of a broader strategy to push civilians into smaller zones, facilitating further military control over Gaza.
In March, The New York Times reported Israel had already deployed facial recognition in Gaza, using technology from Israeli firm Corsight and Google Photos.
An anonymous Israeli intelligence official admitted the system sometimes misidentified civilians as militants.
Initially used to locate Israeli captives, the technology has since evolved into mass surveillance.
The UN condemned the policy.
UNICEF spokesman James Elder said it “contravenes basic humanitarian principles” and seeks to “reinforce control over life-sustaining items as a pressure tactic.”
As Tel Aviv advances its campaign of genocide, it has taken control of at least half of Gaza’s territory since March, coinciding with a total blockade that has worsened the humanitarian crisis.
The UN has warned of an imminent famine affecting the entire population.
On Thursday, US President Donald Trump said Washington should take over Gaza.
Speaking from Qatar, Trump stated, “I have concepts for Gaza … I’d be proud to have the US take it, make it a freedom zone.”
Meanwhile, medical sources told Al Jazeera that 103 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli airstrikes since dawn on May 15.
Footage of wounded civilians, including children, inundated social media.
Palestinian journalist Hassan Samour was killed in a strike on his home, becoming the 216th journalist killed by Israel since the war began, according to Gaza’s Government Media Office.
Veteran journalist Hassan Aslih was killed days earlier at Nasser Hospital in Khan Yunis, where he was recovering from injuries sustained in a previous Israeli strike on a media tent.
Gaza’s Health Ministry announced the complete shutdown of the European Hospital in Khan Yunis following Israeli bombardment.
Services including neurosurgery, chest surgery, cardiology, and ophthalmology have halted, cutting off care for cancer patients.
On May 13, Israeli forces launched intensive airstrikes near the hospital, killing at least 28 people.
Israeli media reported the use of bunker-buster bombs to destroy an underground resistance site and claimed the killing of Mohammad Sinwar, brother of deceased Hamas leader Yahya Sinwar.
The claim has not been independently verified.
