ISRAEL’s far right national security minister, Itamar Ben-Gvir, has authorised personal firearm permits for residents of 18 additional illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, amid an ongoing escalation of settler violence.
In a statement issued on Wednesday, Ben-Gvir’s office said the decision applies to settlements across the occupied West Bank and forms part of an expansion of his so-called firearms reform policy.
Residents of the newly added settlements will now be eligible to apply for personal gun licences.
The minister’s office framed the measure as a step to enhance self-defence, improve personal security and bolster the emergency response capabilities of settlement teams.
Ben-Gvir said the policy had already led to an unprecedented surge in the number of armed settlers.
According to figures he cited, more than 240,000 settlers have obtained gun permits since the expansion, compared with roughly 8,000 permits issued annually in previous years.
He claimed that armed settlers had on numerous occasions intervened against Palestinian actions before the arrival of Israeli forces, asserting that ‘weapons save lives’.
The newly approved list includes settlements in the northern, central and southern West Bank, as well as Goder in the Jordan Valley.
‘I am pleased today to approve the addition of 18 more settlements in Judea and Samaria to the list of communities eligible for personal firearms,’ Ben-Gvir said.
Ben-Gvir launched a drive to broaden civilian access to firearms in late 2023, including among unauthorised settlers in the West Bank.
Illegal Israeli settlers continue to carry out armed attacks on Palestinians across the occupied West Bank, with the stated aim of forcing communities from their land and seizing territory. Violence has intensified sharply since October 2023.
Palestinian authorities say the escalation has led to more than 1,100 Palestinian deaths, around 11,000 injuries and over 21,000 abductions across the West Bank.
The announcement came on the same day that settlers established a new outpost in Khan al-Ahmar, east of occupied al-Quds, and erected tents on Palestinian land south of Nablus.
More than 700,000 Israelis live in over 230 settlements constructed since Israel’s 1967 occupation of the West Bank and East al-Quds.
The international community considers the settlements illegal under international law and the Geneva Conventions because they are built on occupied territory.
The UN Security Council has repeatedly condemned Israel’s settlement activity in formal resolutions.
In July 2024, the International Court of Justice ruled that Israel’s decades-long occupation of historical Palestine is illegal and ordered the evacuation of all settlements in the West Bank and East al-Quds.