Following meetings between police chiefs and heads of the Arab sector with the demand of Joint Arab List Knesset Members and the police to intensify the "war on crime" and to collect the weapons held in Arab localities and villages, the list of weapons seized from the beginning of the year was revealed.
Yisrael Hayom revealed that from the beginning of the year until yesterday, the IDF seized 4,017 objects throughout the country, of which about 3,600 were captured in localities and villages in the Arab sector. By comparison, in 2018, 3,314 items were seized - and also then, about 90% of the items were seized from the Arab sector. In addition, some 3,350 Arab Israeli citizens were arrested this year for involvement in the possession of illegal weapons, dealing in weapons, and shooting.
The items seized include 526 guns and 435 rifles of various types (most notably Karl Gustav and M-16). Quite a few of the weapons are improvised. 137 sub-machine guns and missiles were also seized, 1,810 ammunition items, and more.
Overall, this represents a 21% increase in the number of items captured this year compared to the past year.
Some of the ordnance continues to flow to criminals and organizations from IDF bases, but unlike in the past, most recently come from the Palestinian Authority and over the borders with Egypt, Jordan, and Syria, or from pirate production carried out mainly in Judea and Samaria and Arab manufacturing laboratories.