The Minister of Internal Security in Israel, Itamar Ben Gvir, announced that his ministry has been able to arm 100,000 settlers since the beginning of the war on the Gaza Strip.

Ben Gvir explained that a license to possess a weapon was given to the Israeli, number 100,000, out of about 300,000 applications submitted to the ministry since the war.

Last February, the Hebrew newspaper Haaretz reported that the followers of extremist Minister Ben Gvir had granted licenses to possess weapons to a number of media workers.

The newspaper added that Ben Gvir and officials in his office had granted 14,000 weapons licenses without oversight since last October, and that his advisor personally approved hundreds of requests.

Ben Gvir embarked on a campaign to facilitate obtaining licenses to carry weapons for Israelis, in the wake of Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, where he personally distributed weapons to residents of the occupied city of Ashkelon, and later, many Israelis appeared walking around with weapons in public places.

Media reports, citing the Israeli Security Committee, reported that it had received more than 250,000 applications for licenses to carry weapons since the Al-Aqsa Flood operation, while demand for training centers on the use of weapons increased, and thousands of Israelis obtained weapons for the first time.

Hebrew circles estimate that the Israeli government has armed more than 165,000 settlers in the local settlements of the West Bank and Jerusalem, until the end of 2023.