Israel’s new government says it will make it easier for civilians to carry guns and fortify settlements in the occupied West Bank, after Jerusalem came under two hours of shelling in less than 24 hours.
Seven Israelis were killed and three wounded in the first shooting, the city’s deadliest attack since 2008, which happened near a synagogue in a Jewish settlement on Holocaust Memorial Day. Two others were wounded in a second attack near the Old City on Saturday.
Israel’s security cabinet said that in response to the attack, Israel would expand and tighten firearms licensing, which it said would “encourage thousands of additional citizens to carry weapons”.
He added that he would also take “steps to strengthen settlements” in the West Bank, which makes up most of the Palestinian territory, but has been occupied by Israel since 1967, after “celebrations” by some Palestinians after the shooting. .
“While we are not seeking escalation, we are ready for any possibility,” prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu said before a cabinet meeting on Sunday. “Our answer to terrorism is an iron fist and a strong, swift and precise response.”
The surge in violence, which follows Israel’s deadliest raid in the West Bank for two decades and the exchange of rocket fire between Israel and militants in Gaza, has exacerbated fears that long-simmering Israeli-Palestinian tensions could explode into a wider conflict.
It also created an early test for Netanyahu’s new government, which is dominated by far-right and ultrareligious politicians, and came to power last month on a promise to fight the Palestinians.
On Sunday morning, police sealed off the home of the gunman behind the first attack, a 21-year-old Palestinian from East Jerusalem who was killed by police on the spot, a prelude to further destruction. The attacker in the second shooting, a 13-year-old Palestinian from East Jerusalem, was shot and hospitalized.
During a cabinet meeting on Sunday, Netanyahu ordered officials to enact a law on “depriving terrorists of residency and citizenship and relocating them to Palestinian Authority territory”.
He also called for a “draft memorandum” on legislation that would allow “the immediate dismissal of workers who support terrorism, without the need for a hearing”.
The security cabinet did not provide further details on the measures to strengthen the settlement, which will be delivered this week. The military said Saturday it had moved an additional battalion to the West Bank.
Most of the international community considers these settlements illegal. However, important positions in the new Israeli government were held by ultranationalists and settlers, such as Itamar Ben-Gvir and Bezalel Smotrich, who were committed to expanding the settlements.
On Saturday night, the security cabinet approved several other measures, including revoking the national insurance rights of “terrorist families who support terrorism”, strengthening military and police units and expanding operations to collect illegal weapons.
The Palestinian Authority condemned the plan as “racist collective punishment that leads to further escalation and violence”.
The latest cycle of violence erupted after Israeli commandos killed nine Palestinians in an attack on the Jenin refugee camp in the West Bank on Thursday that targeted militants from the Palestinian Islamic Jihad. More than 30 Palestinians, including militants and civilians, have been killed by Israeli forces this year.
In response to the attack, the Palestinian Authority canceled security coordination with Israel. The US asked the PA to reverse the decision. Secretary of state Antony Blinken is due to visit Israel and the West Bank this week as part of a planned trip to the region.