Israeli requests to obtain a license to possess weapons have increased since the start of the war on Gaza on October 7, reaching 190,000 requests.
The number of applications for licenses to possess weapons in Israel has reached 190,000 since October 7, according to Hebrew media.
The Hebrew economic newspaper Calcalist said on Monday: “Since the beginning of the war, more than 190,000 applications have been submitted to the Ministry of National Security for a weapons license, and in the first ten months of 2023, more than 210,000 applications have been submitted, while the year has not yet ended.”
She added: “So far, about 31,000 licenses have been issued. For comparison, in 2022, 42,000 applications were submitted, and about 13,000 licenses were granted.”
As for “in 2021, about 20,000 applications were submitted, and about 10,000 licenses were issued,” according to the same source.
The newspaper added, quoting the owners of arms production companies: “All production machines have been working non-stop and around the clock for more than a month, even on weekends, and provide hundreds of assault rifles daily to the Israeli army units, which are fighting on the front, and to the reserve groups that are arming themselves.” .
She pointed out that the head of the settlement council in the northern West Bank, Yossi Dagan, submitted a request a few weeks ago to purchase 200 assault rifles from an Israeli factory.
In recent weeks, Israeli Minister of National Security Itamar Ben Gvir announced the distribution of thousands of assault rifles in the West Bank, northern and southern Israel.
Last June, the Israeli Ministry of Defense said that the country's total arms exports to many global markets reached $12.5 billion in 2022.
The ministry stated, in a statement, that Israeli arms exports have more than doubled since 2014, and jumped by 50 percent in the past three years alone, according to what was reported by the Hebrew newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth.
For 38 days, the Israeli army has been waging a devastating war on the Gaza Strip, which led to the death of 11,240 Palestinians, including 4,630 children and 3,130 women, according to the latest official statistics.
Including 7 tanks “Al-Qassam” announces targeting Israeli vehicles and sniping two soldiers in Gaza
Palestinian media confirmed that fierce clashes are currently taking place in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip between the Israeli occupation forces and the Al-Qassam Brigades, which announced on Monday evening the destruction of 7 tanks and 4 military vehicles and the sniping of two Israeli soldiers.
The Al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of the Hamas movement, announced on Monday that it had targeted Israeli forces and vehicles in several areas north and west of the Gaza Strip.
This came in separate statements by Al-Qassam after the battles with the Israeli forces entered the thirty-eighth day, and the clashes between the two sides intensified since the beginning of the ground operations late last month.
Al-Qassam confirmed, in a statement on the Telegram platform, that two Israeli soldiers were sniped north of Beit Hanoun and were directly wounded.
It explained, in another statement, that it targeted “two Zionist tanks” north of Beit Hanoun with Al-Yassin 105 shells.
It also indicated, in a third statement, that “a Zionist troop carrier west of Gaza City was destroyed by a Al-Yassin 105 shell and burned completely.”
According to Al-Qassam’s statements, its fighters were able, on Monday, to “destroy 7 Israeli tanks west of Gaza City, along with 4 military vehicles northwest of the city.”
It explained that it was "ramming the enemy forces penetrating east of Juhr al-Dik and into the southern Gaza axis with heavy-caliber mortar shells."
It also stated, in a separate statement, that its fighters targeted an Israeli special force holed up in a building with a TBG shell north of Beit Hanoun.
The Israeli army did not comment on the “Al-Qassam” statements.
Palestinian media said that fierce clashes are now taking place between the Al-Qassam Brigades and the Israeli occupation forces in Beit Hanoun in the northern Gaza Strip.
Jordanian Foreign Minister: Hamas did not create the conflict, but rather the conflict created it
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Al-Safadi said that the Hamas movement was launched in an environment of oppression, deprivation, violation of rights, violation of dignity, and continuation of occupation. He stressed that “Hamas did not create the conflict, but rather the conflict created it.”
Jordanian Foreign Minister Ayman Safadi said on Monday that what is coming in Palestine “is still worse,” and attributed this to dealing with an Israeli government that has “crossed all red lines.”
This came during an interview by Al-Safadi with the official Jordanian Al-Mamlaka TV. He said, "The Israeli government did not leave any international law without violating it."
He added, "Jordan is continuing its effort to expose the Israeli narrative," because "Israel is continuing its barbaric war on Gaza, and is trying to cover this war with its narrative, which no longer presents anything logical."
He continued: "The world must remember that the war did not start on October 7 and that the conflict has its roots. Jordan tells those who want wars not to be repeated in the region that they must address the roots of the conflict."
He stressed that there is "one path to the solution, which is to end the occupation, which is the source of evil."
He warned of the consequences of the "crimes" committed by Israel in Gaza, pointing out that "what Tel Aviv is doing in the West Bank will cause the situation to explode there."
The Jordanian minister pointed out that "Hamas did not create the conflict, but rather the conflict created it." He explained that the Hamas movement was launched in an environment of oppression, deprivation, violation of rights, violation of dignity, and continued occupation.
In response to a question about Jordan’s thinking about opening channels of communication with the political leadership of Hamas, Al-Safadi said: “We are a country that knows how to maintain our communications, and we know how the doors through which we enter will lead us to achieving our goal, which is to end this conflict on the basis of fulfilling the rights of the people.” Palestine is complete, and we act accordingly.”
On November 1, Jordan decided to recall its ambassador to Tel Aviv “immediately” and refused to return Israel’s ambassador to the Kingdom, against the backdrop of the “raging Israeli war” in the Gaza Strip. Al-Safadi explained, at the time, that “the return of the ambassadors will be linked to Israel stopping its war on Gaza and stopping the humanitarian catastrophe it is causing and all its measures that deprive the Palestinians of their right to food, water, medicine, and a safe and stable life on their national soil.”