Spain vetoed handcuff, security gear sales to Israel

The vetoed sales included that of 2,000 handcuffs for Israel's police force, data security equipment and devices used in driverless vehicles, according to the report which cited records of government exports in 2019.

One of the annulled sales involving a private Israeli company was worth as much 10 million euros ($11,386,500), according to the report.

The report also highlighted that Spain vets all sales to Israel, which received as much as $2.38 billion in security equipment from the European state last year. This includes night vision equipment, weapons and ammunition.

Israel has illegally occupied the West Bank and East Jerusalem since 1967, and commits various abuses against Palestinian civilians, human rights groups say.

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Since the start of 2020, Israel has detained a total of 845 Palestinians in occupied East Jerusalem, according to the Palestinian Prisoners Society.

Israel has also come under fire for its use of surveillance technologies to target opposition figures and Palestinians.

On Wednesday, the head of an Israeli parliamentary committee urged the government to stop using its domestic security agency to tackle the novel coronavirus by tracking mobile phone data.

The government had controversially approved Shin Bet's use of surveillance as an emergency measure in mid-March, raising concerns about patient privacy and Israel's adherence to democratic norms.

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