{"id":28466,"date":"2026-01-24T07:36:10","date_gmt":"2026-01-24T07:36:10","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/?p=28466"},"modified":"2026-01-24T07:36:14","modified_gmt":"2026-01-24T07:36:14","slug":"israeli-minister-approves-gun-licences-for-18-illegal-west-bank-settlements","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/?p=28466","title":{"rendered":"Israeli minister approves gun licences for 18 illegal West Bank settlements"},"content":{"rendered":"\n<p><em>According to the UN, more than 1,800 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians \u2013 about five per day \u2013 were documented in 2025.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/wp-content\/uploads\/2025\/07\/getty_6888df0919-1753800457.jpg?resize=770%2C513&amp;quality=80\" alt=\"Israeli settler walks with a rifle at a settlement outpost.\"\/><figcaption class=\"wp-element-caption\">Israeli settlements, including Evyatar, near Jabal Subeih, in the occupied West Bank, are illegal under international law [File: Amir Levy\/Getty Images]<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p><a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/author\/al_jazeera_staff_150119130629458\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\"><\/a>Israel\u2019s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has approved the issuance of gun licences to Israelis in 18 additional illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, as the right-wing government headed by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/features\/2026\/1\/22\/if-you-sleep-settlers-will-burn-your-house-fear-in-the-west-bank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">pushes to expand illegal outposts<\/a>\u00a0that undermine prospects for a\u00a0<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/video\/newsfeed\/2025\/8\/5\/reality-or-fantasy-is-the-two-state-solution-still-achievable\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">two-state solution<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cThe importance of the decision lies in the fact that these settlements will now be able to submit applications for a personal weapon licence,\u201d Ben-Gvir, a far-right minister, wrote on Telegram on Wednesday, claiming that the efforts were to \u201cenhance self-defence and increase personal security\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<h2 class=\"wp-block-heading\">Recommended Stories<\/h2>\n\n\n\n<p>list of 3 items<\/p>\n\n\n\n<ul class=\"wp-block-list\">\n<li>list 1 of 3<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/opinions\/2026\/1\/20\/there-is-another-war-israel-is-waging-one-that-is-not-making\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">There is another war Israel is waging \u2013 one that is not making headlines<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>list 2 of 3<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/1\/21\/israels-netanyahu-to-join-board-of\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Israel\u2019s wanted war criminal Netanyahu joins Gaza \u2018board of peace\u2019<\/a><\/li>\n\n\n\n<li>list 3 of 3<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/1\/21\/barbaric-new-era-palestinians-un-slam-israeli-demolition-of-unrwa-hq\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">\u2018Barbaric new era\u2019: Palestinians, UN slam Israeli demolition of UNRWA HQ<\/a><\/li>\n<\/ul>\n\n\n\n<p>end of list<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Israeli settlers have been emboldened by a wide-scale armament programme spearheaded at the start of&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/1\/21\/three-journalists-among-11-palestinians-killed-in-israels-attacks-on-gaza\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">Israel\u2019s genocidal war in the Gaza Strip<\/a>&nbsp;by Ben-Gvir, and the near-total impunity they enjoy when carrying out attacks.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Israelis living illegally in the occupied West Bank have been&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/opinions\/2026\/1\/20\/there-is-another-war-israel-is-waging-one-that-is-not-making\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">armed with military-grade weapons<\/a>&nbsp;ranging from US-made M16s to pistols and drones. Israeli authorities maintain that holding arms is necessary for their safety, but local and international organisations have long documented the organised, forced displacement of Palestinians from their ancestral lands.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>Last year, Israel formalised plans to develop the&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/8\/15\/how-the-world-is-reacting-to-israels-settlement-plan-in-occupied-west-bank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">illegal E1 settlement project<\/a>, and this year, it is expected to push forward the plan to expand settlements near Jerusalem, the Jordan Valley and across Ramallah.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In December, another 19 settler outposts built without government approval were retroactively&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2025\/12\/22\/illegal-settlement-expansion-how-israel-is-redrawing-occupied-west-bank\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">approved<\/a>&nbsp;by Israel\u2019s government as official settlements. In all, the number of settlements and outposts in the West Bank and occupied East Jerusalem has risen by nearly 50 percent since 2022 \u2013 from 141 to 210 now.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p><strong>Advertisement<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>The International Court of Justice (ICJ) ruled in 2024 that Israel\u2019s continued presence in the occupied Palestinian territory is&nbsp;<a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2024\/7\/19\/world-court-says-israels-settlement-policies-breach-international-law\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">unlawful<\/a>&nbsp;and should come to an end \u201cas rapidly as possible\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>In his statement, Ben-Gvir added that more than 240,000 Israelis have received gun permits since the expansion of the policy, compared with about 8,000 permits issued annually in previous years.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>\u201cAn unprecedented number,\u201d he said, adding that this contributed to \u201cthwarting attacks, preventing infiltration, and stopping attackers even before security forces arrived\u201d.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>According to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs, more than 1,800 settler attacks against Palestinians \u2013 about five per day \u2013 were documented in 2025, resulting in casualties or property damage in about 280 communities across the West Bank, and besting the previous year\u2019s record of settler attacks by more than 350.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<p>A total of 240 Palestinians in the West Bank, including 55 children, were killed by Israeli forces or settlers in 2025.<\/p>\n\n\n\n<figure class=\"wp-block-image\"><img decoding=\"async\" src=\"https:\/\/cf-images.eu-west-1.prod.boltdns.net\/v1\/static\/665003303001\/8f4ca014-e79f-4d90-8675-21f7714788a5\/ee937e92-817c-4ffc-98ff-96bcc1976f1b\/1920x1080\/match\/image.jpg\" alt=\"\"\/><\/figure>\n\n\n\n<p>Reference Link:- <a href=\"https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/1\/22\/israeli-minister-approves-gun-licences-for-18-illegal-west-bank-settlements\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"noopener\">https:\/\/www.aljazeera.com\/news\/2026\/1\/22\/israeli-minister-approves-gun-licences-for-18-illegal-west-bank-settlements<\/a><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>According to the UN, more than 1,800 Israeli settler attacks against Palestinians \u2013 about five per day \u2013 were documented in 2025. Israel\u2019s National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has approved the issuance of gun licences to Israelis in 18 additional illegal settlements in the occupied West Bank, as the right-wing government headed by Prime Minister [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":28467,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"aside","meta":{"footnotes":"","jetpack_publicize_message":"","jetpack_publicize_feature_enabled":true,"jetpack_social_post_already_shared":true,"jetpack_social_options":{"image_generator_settings":{"template":"highway","default_image_id":0,"font":"","enabled":false},"version":2}},"categories":[2],"tags":[25547,26441,23877,1737,10003,1510,26440,4935,1515,18540],"class_list":["post-28466","post","type-post","status-publish","format-aside","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-sample-category","tag-annexation","tag-arming-ilegal-occupants","tag-brutalities-2","tag-gaza-2","tag-genocide-2","tag-israel-2","tag-pakestine","tag-war-crimes-2","tag-west-bank-2","tag-zionism-2","post_format-post-format-aside"],"jetpack_publicize_connections":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28466","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcomments&post=28466"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28466\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":28468,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/posts\/28466\/revisions\/28468"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=\/wp\/v2\/media\/28467"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fmedia&parent=28466"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Fcategories&post=28466"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/gsrra.com\/index.php?rest_route=%2Fwp%2Fv2%2Ftags&post=28466"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}