Israel is going to issue more gun permits to civilians. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu announced this in the night from Saturday to Sunday after consultations with his cabinet, AFP news agency reports. The decision comes after two shootings. On Friday, a Palestinian man shot and killed seven people at a synagogue in East Jerusalem. The next morning, a 13-year-old Palestinian wounded two Israelis.
“If civilians have guns, they can defend themselves,” said far-right Homeland Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir. In addition, Israel will also introduce measures that will deprive “families of terrorists” of their social security. Netanyahu said, among other things, that a bill is ready aimed at revoking Israeli identity cards for Palestinians with Israeli nationality. Netanyahu also wants to punish the perpetrators and those around them more harshly, including by demolishing their homes.
Israel has already scaled up its military presence in the West Bank. Prime Minister Netanyahu called on the population not to take the law into their own hands. “We are not looking for an escalation, but we are preparing for every scenario,” said the prime minister, who returned last month.
Netanyahu is heavily criticized at home. Tens of thousands of Israelis took to the streets for the fourth consecutive Saturday to protest against the Prime Minister’s new radical right-wing government. About 40,000 people demonstrated in Tel Aviv.
Read also: New Israeli government is now also clashing hard with Palestinians
Rising tensions
Tensions between Israel and the Palestinians have risen in recent days. On Friday, Holocaust Remembrance Day, visitors to a synagogue were shot at. Police have killed the 21-year-old gunman, but are questioning relatives of the terrorist and other suspects. According to international news agencies, 42 people have been arrested.
A spokesperson for the Palestinian movement Hamas, which the EU considers terrorist, has, according to the Israeli newspaper Haaretz said the shooting was in retaliation for Israel’s military action in the West Bank on Thursday. The army killed nine people in a raid on a refugee camp. The raid was the deadliest in nearly 20 years, according to UN experts.
On Saturday morning, a 13-year-old Palestinian wounded two Israelis. According to the police, the perpetrator has been “neutralized”, nothing is known about his motive.