Far-right minister expands gun licensing, granting access to 100,000 more Israelis

JERUSALEM/ISTANBUL

Israel’s far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir on Monday broadened a controversial gun licensing scheme, making another 100,000 Israelis eligible for private firearm permits.

Ben-Gvir’s office said five more towns, Kiryat Gat, Kiryat Malakhi, Gan Yavne, Megiddo and Tel Mond were added to the list of communities where residents can apply for gun licenses.
The extremist minister hailed the measure as proof of his security agenda.

“This reform has saved many lives and shown its effectiveness in the field. It is meant to give citizens the ability to protect themselves and their communities,” he said.

Since the policy was introduced after the Gaza war broke out in late 2023, some 230,000 new licenses have been issued, including to illegal settlers in the occupied West Bank.

The expansion has stirred growing alarm in Israel, with reports of deadly mistakes in which Israelis were shot by armed civilians who suspected them of being Palestinians. Media outlets have also pointed to flaws in the vetting process, saying permits were granted to unfit applicants.

Armed illegal settlers have long been accused of using licensed weapons to attack Palestinians in the occupied West Bank, often driving families from their homes and seizing land.

Israel’s ongoing war in Gaza has been mirrored by intensified settlement activity, home demolitions, and forced displacement in the West Bank, steps critics say are paving the way for annexation and undermining any prospect of a two-state solution.

Since the start of Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip in October 2023, at least 1,016 Palestinians have been killed and more than 7,000 injured in the occupied West Bank by Israeli forces and illegal settlers, according to the Palestinian Health Ministry.

In a landmark opinion last July, the International Court of Justice declared Israel’s occupation of Palestinian territory illegal. It demanded the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East Jerusalem.