Hewlett-Packard (HP) is contracted by the Israeli Ministry of Defense to maintain the Basel biometric system at checkpoints in the Occupied Palestinian Territories. According to a response by the Ministry of Defense to a freedom of information inquiry submitted by the Israeli NGO Who Profits, HP is contracted to maintain the Basel biometric system in West Bank and Gaza checkpoints until the end of 2015.

The NGO “Who Profits” is dedicated to exposing the commercial involvement of companies in the continuing Israeli control over Palestinian and Syrian land.

The Basel System is an automated biometric access control system with hand and facial recognition capabilities which is utilized in issuing permits for Palestinian workers. The system was first installed in 2004 at the Erez checkpoint in the Northern Gaza strip. In 2013, the Ministry of Defense indicated that the system is installed at the following occupied West Bank checkpoints: Jericho, Bethlehem (Ma’avar Rachel), Jenin, Nablus, Tulkarem, Hebron, Abu Dis, Tarkumia, Eyal, and Irtach (Sha’ar Efraim). HP developed and installed the Basel System, which was financed by the US government, following the Wye River Memorandum. Since 2004 the company performs on-going maintenance and field support for the system and will continue to do so until the end of 2015.

For more information about the Basel System and HP’s involvement in the Israeli occupation, see Who Profits’ report, Technologies of Control, and the company’s profile on the Who Profits’ database.