Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor: The occupation has expanded apartheid policies against Palestinians within Israel

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor stated that since October 7, 2023, Israeli occupation authorities have escalated their use of tools and policies that reinforce apartheid and discrimination against Palestinians living in the occupied territories, warning of the expanding scope of persecution and surveillance based on Palestinian identity and political expression.

The Monitor explained that Israeli legislation and procedures, particularly those related to so-called “counterterrorism,” have contributed to transforming Palestinian identity and the expression of political views into grounds for suspicion, surveillance, and persecution. In some cases, these measures rely on vague definitions and secret information that individuals are unable to access or effectively challenge.

The Monitor also pointed to legislative amendments that have broadened the occupation authorities’ powers to dismiss teachers and withhold funding from schools under the pretext of combating incitement or terrorism, without requiring a criminal conviction. It considered these measures to be opening the door to broad administrative penalties against institutions and individuals. The report noted that 144 Palestinians within Israel were killed in violent crimes during the first half of 2026, amid what the Observatory described as police inaction in providing adequate protection and combating crime.

It also pointed to the use of administrative detention against Palestinian citizens based on secret evidence, which, according to the report, deprives detainees of fair trial guarantees and restricts their personal freedom without a full criminal trial.

The Observatory also reported repeated, and what it described as violent, police raids targeting Palestinian weddings and gatherings, during which stun grenades were used. It further noted the rise in racist restrictions in workplaces, including prohibiting workers from speaking Arabic, as well as documented attacks on Palestinian students in schools.

The Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor concluded that these policies, taken together, constitute—in its assessment—a comprehensive system of apartheid at the legal and institutional levels, aimed at entrenching Jewish demographic and political dominance. The Observatory called on countries to suspend the transfer of weapons and police equipment to “Israel” to ensure that they do not contribute to consolidating what it described as an apartheid regime. It also called on the European Union to activate the human rights clause and suspend privileges related to the violations that it accuses “Israel” of committing.