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Netanyahu Will Make It Easy for Israelis to Get Firearms PHOTOS/Reuters
TEL AVIV – Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has announced plans to make things easier for residents Israel get firearms . The plan comes amid escalating violence in the occupied Palestinian territories.
Netanyahu announced the measure on Saturday (28/1/2023) evening, after convening a meeting of his security cabinet. This cabinet is filled by a number of hardline politicians.
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The plan came after seven people were killed in a shooting outside an East Jerusalem synagogue on Friday (27/1/2023). The weekend shootings came towards the end of a month of growing confrontation and followed an Israeli attack on the occupied West Bank city of Jenin that killed 9 Palestinians.
Netanyahu promised to speed up weapons permits for Israeli citizens and increase efforts to collect “illegal weapons”. He added that the houses of the alleged attackers would also be sealed immediately before the demolition “to get an additional price from those who support terrorism”.
His office later said social security benefits for the attacker’s family would also be cancelled. Additionally, he promised new steps to “strengthen” illegal Israeli settlements in the occupied West Bank but gave no details.
Baca: Israelis Blame Ben-Gvir for Shooting at Jerusalem Synagogue
Al Jazeera’s Diplomatic Editor James Bays, reporting from occupied East Jerusalem, said Netanyahu’s plan to approve more gun permits for Israelis comes as Israeli police are also encouraging those with permits to carry their guns.
“While Netanyahu is urging Israelis not to take law into their own hands, he is also putting more guns into those same hands,” Bays said.
Bays later described the action against the Palestinian family as “collective punishment” and “a clear violation of human rights”.
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Al Jazeera’s senior political analyst, Marwan Bishara, said arming civilians in Israel could further escalate violence. “They are trying to further arm those who are already armed in Jerusalem and the West Bank,” Bishara said.
“More violence and more suffering will only happen at the hands [kelompok] most extreme in Israel and potentially in Palestine,” he continued.
(esn)
