By Yakir Benzion, United With Israel -
In a move that will most likely help lower tensions, the IDF will no longer knock on the doors of Palestinian homes to gather security intelligence, Channel 11 reported Tuesday.
With Palestinian census data and phone books not being up to date, the Israeli military has needed to knock on doors to verify exactly who was living in a residence, a practice known as “intelligence mapping.”
To avoid potential tension created by intelligence mapping, the head of the IDF’s Central Command, General Nadav Padan, replaced the practice with new technological tools that make it unnecessary to enter homes.
Entry for the purpose of arresting wanted persons or searching for illegal weapons will continue, the report said.
The new technological approach will also protect IDF soldiers operating in Palestinian neighborhoods, who regularly face high risks.
Last year, IDF soldier Amit Ben Yigal, 21, was killed when a Palestinian dropped a building block on him during an operation to arrest terrorists.
Because Palestinians attack soldiers patrolling their neighborhoods, troops carried out mapping late at night to reduce the possibility of confrontations. This made the procedure unpleasant both for residents getting visits and for soldiers carrying out the missions.
The new technological approach will avoid these problems.
Image: Israel Defense Forces, CC BY-SA 2.0 <;, via Wikimedia Commons
