The Samaria Regional Council is distributing 300 assault rifles to civilian security squads in the northern West Bank, a move coordinated with the National Security Ministry and the IDF. This initiative, spearheaded by Council Head Yossi Dagan, aims to bolster local defense in response to heightened security concerns following a major Hamas attack on October 7 that resulted in over 1,400 civilian deaths.
While Dagan emphasizes the need for increased local security, human rights organizations express alarm over the implications of arming civilian groups amid reports of escalating settler violence against Palestinians. Since the October attack, there have been approximately 100 incidents of assaults on Palestinian communities, raising questions about the potential consequences of this distribution of firearms and the broader strategy of security in the region.
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