Ben Gvir was talking about the attack that occurred this morning at the entrance to the Ramot settlement, northwest of Jerusalem, in which 3 Israelis were killed and 8 others were injured, in the latest episode of a series of attacks witnessed by Israel since the outbreak of the Gaza War on October 7 last.
Israeli media quoted the Minister of National Security as saying: “A difficult morning for everyone, and my condolences to the families of the dead, the full recovery of the wounded, and a big embrace for the heroes who saved lives here.”
He added: “This event (the Jerusalem attack) proves once again that we should not show weakness, and that we should talk to Hamas only through war.”
He continued: “This event demonstrates something else, which is how important the policy of distributing weapons is. Despite the criticism from various parties, I will continue this policy of distributing weapons everywhere (…).”
He said: “Weapons save lives. We see this over and over again. Anywhere there are weapons, citizens, police and soldiers save lives.”
Video footage showed that at least one soldier and other settlers opened fire on the attackers, who got out of a car and attacked a gathering of settlers who were at a bus stop.
After the outbreak of the Israeli war on Gaza, Ben Gvir eased the conditions for obtaining weapons and allowed their distribution on an unprecedented scale, which sparked severe criticism inside and outside Israel.
For example, the Israeli newspaper “Haaretz” said that distributing weapons without monitoring could lead to changes in family dynamics and an increase in cases of violence.
As for the Palestinian Ministry of Foreign Affairs, it said that the decision to arm settlers aims to “terrorize the Palestinian people,” pointing to the killing of Palestinian civilians by Israeli settlers’ bullets in the West Bank.
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