Firearm News
DIY Submachine Guns Are Popping Up Across the West Bank
14 October 2016
Washington Post
AZZUN — In the predawn hours, 150 Israeli troops, including masked special forces operatives, arrived in this Palestinian town in armored personnel carriers and hardened jeeps to hunt for guns and gun makers. They found one of each. The operation was deemed a success.
The raid in Azzun is part of an aggressive campaign by Israel to rid the occupied West Bank of guns — specifically a crude kind of do-it-yourself, handmade submachine gun known on the Palestinian... (GunPolicy.org)
Palestinian Judge Killed Accidentally While Cleaning Gun
9 June 2013
Xinhua
GAZA - A Hamas military judge was killed while cleaning a gun at his office in Gaza City, the Hamas health ministry said Sunday.
A bullet was fired from the pistol and ended up in judge Ayman Emad Al-Deen's head, said Ashraf Al-Qedra, a spokesperson of the ministry.
Police spokesperson Ayyoub Abu Sha'ar said that an investigation was underway.
The judge, part of the Hamas military judiciary, was in the panel in charge of several tribunals that handed down death... (GunPolicy.org)
Niger,Algeria,Tunisia,Somalia,Chad,Palestine,Mali,Liberia,Egypt
Egypt Major Recipient of Illicit Libyan Weapons: UN Report
10 April 2013
Daily News (Egypt)
The United Nations published a report on Tuesday which concludes that weapons used during the Libyan civil war against Muammar Gaddafi are being funnelled at an alarming rate to other countries in the region.
The report said these weapons have been found to be used in the recent war in Mali, the West Bank in Palestine and the ongoing Syrian civil war, with Egypt and the Sahel region receiving the most significant amounts. The report said these weapons are fuelling... (GunPolicy.org)
Israel,United States,Palestine
Israel Evidence Shows Gun Restrictions Work, Disproves US Lobby Claims
25 December 2012
Washington Post / Associated Press
JERUSALEM — Israel's policy on issuing guns is restrictive, and armed guards at its schools are meant to stop terrorists, not crazed or disgruntled gunmen, experts said Monday, rejecting claims by America's top gun lobby that Israel serves as proof for its philosophy that the U.S. needs more weapons, not fewer.
Far from the image of a heavily armed population where ordinary people have their own arsenals to repel attackers, Israel allows its people to acquire... (GunPolicy.org)
Egypt,Niger,Libya,Belgium,Mali,Palestine,Israel
Experts Suspect Belgian-Made Guns Trafficked from Libya to Gaza
19 November 2012
Foreign Policy
There's one big problem with small arms: They don't come with an expiration date. These reliable killing machines pass from dead soldiers to living insurgents, and from a country's armory to a militia's safe house thousands of miles away. As soon as weapons crates cross international borders, arms-producing countries lose control over where they head next - a fact on full display during recent conflicts across the Middle East, and now in the Gaza Strip.
On Nov. 17,... (GunPolicy.org)
Palestinian President Launched Broadest Crackdown on Illicit Arms Trade
4 July 2012
Washington Post / AP
Palestinian lawmaker Shami Al-Shami, 47, is treated by medics for gun wounds sustained outside his home in the West Bank town of Jenin, Sunday, July 1, 2012. Al-Shami said Sunday he has been shot twice in the leg by assailants as he got out of his car outside his home. Jenin once served as a model for Palestinian law and order, but has experienced a wave of brazen attacks by gunmen over
JENIN REFUGEE CAMP, West Bank — Palestinian President Mahmoud Abbas has launched... (GunPolicy.org)
Belgium,Libya,Syria,North Africa,West Asia,Africa,Palestine,Ireland,East Africa,Europe
Special Report on Belgian Arms Exports in Middle East and North Africa - Blog
5 April 2012
New York Times, Blog
The uprisings in Libya and Syria have cast the Belgian small arms industry as a case study of the difficult balances within a Western arms-manufacturing community that seeks exports to preserve revenue and local jobs, but risks compromising European policies and human rights values.
Belgium is one of Europe's busiest exporters of small arms and light weapons. As late as 2010, the last year for which publicly released data is available, 32 percent of the small-arms... (GunPolicy.org)
Israeli Police Say Gun Violence Continues to Climb in Arab Sector
27 March 2012
Jerusalem Post (Israel)
Despite police efforts to stamp out the use of firearms in the Arab sector, gun crime rose by 7 percent in the first three months of 2012 in comparison to the same period last year, police said Monday.
In 2011, in 557 cases a firearm was used during the commission of a crime, with 579 arrests made for firearms offenses, police said.
The police and the Public Security Ministry have been the subject of continued criticism from the Arab sector due to the mayhem caused by... (GunPolicy.org)
Palestine,Israel,European Union,France
France and Arms Trade Control: an Opaque System - Opinion [FR]
9 March 2012
Le Monde (France), Opinion
[Translated summary: Today, the French system on arms export control remains opaque: unlike neighboring countries such as United Kingdom and Netherlands. For example, it is impossible to know exactly what France sells, to whom, for what use or … if it refuses to sell to third countries. The last five years have not allowed significant advances. Instead, with the easing in spring 2011 of arms transfer controls inside and outside the European Union, or the refusal to... (GunPolicy.org)
Palestine,Libya,Chad,Sudan,Egypt
Smuggled, Stolen and Homemade, Guns Flood Egypt's Streets
27 June 2011
Al Masry Al Youm (Egypt)
A new conversation has been taking place around Egypt for the past five months, one that rarely came up before. How do you acquire a firearm?
With rising crime rates and an ongoing security vacuum since 28 January, the smuggling, manufacturing, and purchasing of weapons is on the rise.The insecurity has generated new clients and markets in a country where previously one rarely heard of civilians carrying personal weapons. The persistent security vacuum has sparked a... (GunPolicy.org)
100 Tons of Guns, Ammunition, Explosives Smuggled to Gaza Each Year
2 March 2009
Washington Institute / PolicyWatch #1484 (USA), Web page
This week, Secretary of State Hillary Clinton will travel to Egypt to attend an international conference on the reconstruction of the Gaza Strip. While the rehabilitation of Gaza is high on the international community's agenda, the implementation of any rebuilding project may be premature. Indeed, given Hamas's ongoing weapons smuggling into Gaza, Israel's mid-January unilateral ceasefire may be short-lived. Although the United States and Israel reached an agreement on... (GunPolicy.org)
Killer Shoots 8 in Jewish Seminary Before Armed Targets Can Respond
7 March 2008
Reuters
JERUSALEM — A Palestinian gunman shot dead at least eight people at a Jewish religious school in Jerusalem, but Israel said the killings would not derail U.S.-sponsored peace talks.
"It was a slaughterhouse," Yehuda Meshi-Zahav, head of the Zaka emergency service, said of the scene on Thursday night at the Merkaz Harav seminary, one of the city's most prominent Jewish educational centers.
There was no immediate claim of responsibility. The attack was greeted with... (GunPolicy.org)
8 Killed in Shooting at Jerusalem Seminary Before Gunman Shot Dead
6 March 2008
Los Angeles Times
JERUSALEM — A man concealing an automatic weapon in a cardboard box slipped into a Jewish seminary here and opened fire in the library Thursday night, killing at least eight people in Israel's worst terrorist attack in nearly two years.
Jerusalem Police Chief Aharon Franco said the attack lasted more than 10 minutes before an Israeli army officer killed the assailant.
Rescue workers said at least 10 people were wounded. Most of the victims were men in their 20s. The... (GunPolicy.org)
Palestinian Shooter Surprises Armed Israeli Student Soldiers, Shoots 8 Dead
6 March 2008
Associated Press
JERUSALEM, Israel — A gunman entered the library of a rabbinical seminary and opened fire on a crowded nighttime study session Thursday, killing eight people and wounding nine before he was slain, police and rescue workers said. It was the first major militant attack in Jerusalem in more than four years.
Hamas militants in the Gaza Strip praised the operation in a statement, and thousands of Palestinians took to the streets of Gaza to celebrate.
The day's violence,... (GunPolicy.org)
Soaring Gun, Ammunition Prices Chart Rising Insecurity on West Bank
16 October 2007
New York Times / Reuters
HEBRON, West Bank — Two years ago, an M16 automatic rifle could fetch $5,400 or more in the Palestinian West Bank. Now buyers at Hebron's clandestine gun market are asked to pay more than double.
Four months after Islamist Hamas routed secular Fatah in the Gaza Strip, fears that clashes between the Palestinian rivals could erupt in the West Bank and uncertainty ahead of a U.S.-led peace conference are fuelling a scramble for guns.
Dealers at the gun market in... (GunPolicy.org)
Rule of Guns is Rule of Law in Gaza Market, as Arms Vie With Used Cars
8 May 2007
Reuters
GAZA — Assault rifles, pistols, hand grenades, pipe bombs and assorted ammunition are now on sale in Gaza's bustling used car market.
"Come along, come along, a bullet for eight shekels and a stun grenade for seven shekels ($1.75)," Hassan, a 17-year-old arms dealer shouts.
Dozens of cars are still being offered but the 25 weapons competing for business show the extent to which the rule of the gun has largely become the rule of law in the Gaza Strip.
"Anarchy, what... (GunPolicy.org)
Egypt,Israel,Palestine,United States
Egypt, Israel, US Approve and Ship 2,000 More Guns to Palestine's Fatah
28 December 2006
Agence France Presse
Egypt has sent a large quantity of arms to the forces of moderate Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas's Fatah party with the help of Israel, an Israeli official said.
"In coordination with Israel, Egypt delivered a large quantity of guns and munitions to the Abbas forces," the official told AFP, asking to remain anonymous.
The Haaretz daily meanwhile reported that "a load of 2,000 Kalashnikov AK-47 assault rifles as well as 20,000 cartridge clips and two million... (GunPolicy.org)
Gaza's Gun Running Tunnels May Be Biggest Threat to Middle East Peace
17 December 2006
Associated Press
RAFAH, Gaza Strip — In houses along the steel wall separating Gaza and Egypt, the lights are flickering a sign that smugglers are digging tunnels below, their powerful drills weakening the flow of electricity.
Tunneling is the fastest-growing business in this impoverished border town, and one of the biggest obstacles to any lasting Israeli-Palestinian truce.
Since Israel pulled out of the Gaza Strip a year ago, the number of tunnels for smuggling weapons, drugs and... (GunPolicy.org)
Young Middle East Arabs Want Stricter Gun Control, Study Finds
1 March 2006
Reuters / IRIN
BEIRUT — Young Lebanese, Palestinians and Sudanese want tougher gun control regulations, a survey by a group of NGOs revealed.
The findings of the study, which was conducted over the last six months by the Middle East North Africa Network on Small Arms (MENSAA), an umbrella group of Arab NGOs concerned with the misuse and proliferation of illicit small arms and light weapons, were released on Tuesday in Beirut.
"Each of the studies confirmed that a majority of... (GunPolicy.org)
Israeli Soldiers Shoot, Kill Mentally Disabled Teen Holding Plastic Toy Gun
15 February 2006
Independent (UK)
QABATIA — A 15 year old mentally disabled Palestinian boy carrying a broken toy rifle was shot dead by Israeli troops during an arrest operation in the northern West Bank town of Qabatia, near Jenin, yesterday.
A Palestinian security officer who saw the boy, Mujahed Al Samadi, struck by a bullet — one of three residents said had been fired at him — said last night that he had been on his own 300 metres from a house on higher ground which was occupied by troops... (GunPolicy.org)