Police seized 1,819 illegal firearms since start of year

The Israel Police seized 1,819 illegal firearms from the beginning of the year until July 30, the police spokesperson said on Monday. 

The weapons were seized over the course of 1,599 different illegal arsenal busts since the beginning of the year, and resulted in 3,728 criminal investigation files being opened. In the same period of time last year, police seized 1363 illegal firearms in 1359 busts. 

The police spokesperson said that this meant that they had seized almost 8.6 firearms per day, since the beginning of the year.

Foiling the next shooting and murder in Israel

"The impressive increase in the number of firearms seized this year is the result of overt and covert operational activity and the use of accurate intelligence," Police Intelligence Superintendent Shmuel Sharvit said. "Every firearm seized by the police foils the next shooting, murder, and attack."

Sharvit said that the police were determined to stop firearms from reaching criminal organizations. 

On July 10 the Israel Police announced that it had seized 1,535 weapons – 962 pistols, 362 improvised firearms, 163 rifles, and 47 shotguns – since the beginning of the year in 1307 different busts. This means that the police confiscated 285 illegal firearms in July alone. 

The proliferation of illegal firearms is often cited as one of the contributing factors to the rising homicide rate in the Arab sector. Around 144 Arab community members have been killed since the beginning of the year, many connected to organized crime. According to the Abraham Initiatives, by June 89% of fatalities in Arab sector were from gun violence. 2023 is shaping to be the most violent year on record for the community.

A resident of Haifa and two Basmat Tab'un residents were indicted by the Haifa District Attorney's Office on Monday after they were arrested while in possession of a Kalashnikov family rifle and a pistol. The District  Attorney's Office said that the men were in the midst of planning to harm another person. 

Hemo Faiz, 29, Mohammed Kalibat, 25, and Nadim Abu Kalib, 18, approached a police roadblock, and when signaled to stop attempted to escape by ramming the police patrol cars. The police pursued, and after a high-speed chase the suspects allegedly threw the weapons into bushes and attempted to escape by foot into a wooded area.

The car had been set up with new license plates, and black gloves, black coats, black medical masks, and a tank of gasoline were found in the vehicle.

Police also announced on Monday that they had raided the home of a 17-year-old resident of Ashdod two weeks ago, suspecting that he possessed weapons for criminal purposes. Police found various masks,  an improvised firearm, a pistol, an airsoft pistol, dozens of canisters of gas sprays, a stun grenade, and associated rounds of ammunition. The Southern District Attorney was expected to file an indictment soon.