Military-Police Fusion at the Southern Border

Abstract

Examining the activities of the Israel Defense Forces along the Gaza-Israel border, this article identifies a new phase in what the author calls ‘military-police fusion’. The analysis focuses on novel technologies—remote-controlled weapon stations and unmanned ground vehicles—and on the women soldiers who operate these systems. The central claim is that the blurring of boundaries between military and policing missions, combined with high-tech weaponry, has resulted in the development and implementation of new modes of violence that are currently undergoing a process of redefinition and feminization. The article addresses three key dimensions of the processes occurring in the hybrid operational environment along the Gaza-Israel border: the legal dimension, the technological dimension, and the gender dimension.