RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Yasser Qishta, 25, shows a visitor into his near-finished house, a two-story cinderblock structure with a pristine, pastel interior, all new paint and gleaming ceramic tile. The house cost him $32,000, a fortune for a man of his age in the Gaza Strip's troubled economy. The house tells everyone in the neighborhood what he has been up to: burrowing beneath the border to help bring illegal arms into the Gaza Strip. "I risked my life, but now I can... (GunPolicy.org)

GAZA CITY — The Palestinian Authority interior minister vowed yesterday to crack down further on armed groups saying he would deal "firmly and seriously" with illegal weapons manufacturing workshops and storage sites. Nasser Youssef issued a statement as Israel pursued a series of air strikes against rocket launch sites in northern Gaza that knocked out electricity to parts of the territory. He condemned the Israeli raids and urged "an immediate international... (GunPolicy.org)

The backdrop to the exchanges of gunfire in the Gaza Strip is an attempt by the Palestinian Authority to enforce the decision — to which all the Palestinian organizations are party — to ban the carrying of arms in public. The clashes last night between Hamas men and PA police were some of the fiercest ever seen in the Strip, but the flare-up appears localized, and not a precursor for a civil war. The decision by the PA and the various organizations to ban the... (GunPolicy.org)

JERUSALEM — Palestinian authorities began enforcing a ban on public displays of weapons Thursday. Three people were arrested and the guns of off-duty police officers were confiscated. The crackdown was a key step toward imposing order in the chaotic Gaza Strip. Pressing forward with its military campaign, Israeli soldiers killed five Palestinian gunmen during raids in the West Bank. Israel launched the wave of airstrikes and arrest raids last weekend in response to... (GunPolicy.org)

RAFAH, Gaza Strip — Palestinian gunrunners smuggled hundreds of assault rifles and pistols across the Egyptian frontier into Gaza, dealers and border officials told The Associated Press on Wednesday. The influx confirmed Israeli fears about giving up border control and could further destabilize Gaza. Black market prices for weapons dropped sharply, with AK-47 assault rifles nearly cut in half to $1,300 and even steeper reductions for handguns. News of the smuggling... (GunPolicy.org)

RAMALLAH, West Bank — Hundreds of Palestinian gunmen have signed pledges to halt violence in exchange for government jobs, and Palestinian leader Mahmoud Abbas hopes to bring many more militants on board before he meets President Bush in May, Palestinian officials said Monday. The new jobs-for-guns program, which offers the biggest rewards to those who've spent the longest time in Israeli prisons or on the run from the military, is meant to counter Israeli and U.S.... (GunPolicy.org)

The Ministry of Interior Affairs started a campaign to limit weapon dispersion. In the last few days the minister of interior affairs Nasser Yousef issued instructions directed to the armed Palestinians, whom Israel defines them as ' fugitives', demanding them to sign personal commitments in order to restrict the use of weapons in the West Bank. The book of commitments consists of ten bands and under the name of: Personal Commitment, I (name) … I.D. number …... (GunPolicy.org)

JERUSALEM — The new Palestinian leadership on Thursday forbade civilians to carry weapons, the latest in a series of steps meant to rein in militant groups and help quell lawlessness in the West Bank and Gaza Strip. The measure was seen as another sign that Palestinian Authority President Mahmoud Abbas, who has been in office less than two weeks, is determined to swiftly establish a climate in which long-dormant peace talks with Israel can be revived. Israeli Prime... (GunPolicy.org)

PALESTINIAN security forces should be the only group in the occupied territories allowed to carry weapons, Palestine Liberation Organisation chairman Mahmud Abbas said today. "We want to control the Palestinian security scene so that we end the phenomenon of arms being carried around everywhere. This is the policy of the Palestinian government," he said. Mr Abbas, a former prime minister, was responding to a question over the Palestinian Authority's intention to... (GunPolicy.org)

Hezbollah is getting millions of dollars from Iran. They have plenty of weapons. They don't need a few shotguns from Dearborn. This quote from an Arab-American news editor exposes the flawed logic of America's anti-gun lobby. If private gun commerce by violent criminals, drug dealers or fugitives from justice — or illegal aliens — is the target, bear in mind that gun commerce by such persons — anywhere, anytime, under any circumstances — is already covered by... (GunPolicy.org)

RAFAH Border, Gaza Strip — Three shots ring out in the still of the afternoon, and three Palestinians run for cover. The Israeli army sniper on the 25 metre-high security tower watches the men below scatter and dive for gaps in the concrete wall. As Sergeant Dan Jacobi pulls the trigger, one Palestinian shoves a wooden crate into waiting hands on the Gaza side of the wall: one more lethal cargo slipping past Israeli troops, one more shipment of arms and ammunition... (GunPolicy.org)

RAMALLAH, West Bank — When Ahlam Duqmaq was gunned down in her father's butcher shop by gangs looking for her brothers, Palestinians were outraged. Is our life this cheap? they asked. Who will protect us? Duqmaq's killing became a glaring example of what Palestinians complain is a growing scourge: the militarization of their society, in a land where rival security forces shoot it out in public, young civilian men swagger through marketplaces with assault rifles, and... (GunPolicy.org)

A Palestinian human rights group has called on Palestinian leaders to tighten gun control after four people were shot dead in less than a month. The group, the Palestinian Society for the Protection of Human Rights and the Environment, said two of the victims were shot by Palestinian security men. It says the Palestinian authority should ban the widespread ownership of guns . It recommended that all weapons should be withdrawn and then issued only to security... (GunPolicy.org)

GAZA — The Palestinian Authority on Sunday announced the launch of a police campaign to round up unlicensed and illegal weapons in all Palestinian self-rule areas as required under a new peace deal with Israel. "The 15-day ultimatum for people to hand over their unlicensed weapons is over and starting today we will begin organising campaigns to collect illegal weapons," Brigadier- General Mahmoud Asfour told Reuters. The land-for-security deal which Israel and the... (GunPolicy.org)