Have you ever considered how many weapons Arabs in Judea and Samaria have? How long will it take the IDF to confiscate these weapons at its current rate?
The answers might surprise you.
The defense establishment would not provide a clear answer on this issue, but estimates range between 50,000 to 400,000 weapons. In addition, the Palestinian Authority has around 70,000 weapons, which were given to them by Israel under the Oslo Accords.
Another question: Is the IDF succeeding in addressing this issue? According to data from the IDF Spokesperson, only obtained after extensive efforts, in 2021 the IDF confiscated 340 weapons in Judea and Samaria, less than one per day. Then in 2022 the IDF seized 465 weapons, and in 2023 the IDF seized 700 weapons.
Furthermore, since the beginning of the war, about 640 weapons have been confiscated in Judea and Samaria, averaging around three weapons per day.
Based on these numbers, even taking the lower estimate of "only" 50,000 illegal weapons in Judea and Samaria, it would take the IDF 45 years to confiscate all of them. And don’t forget this doesn’t include the fact that weapons are continuing to enter via numerous smuggling operations and that there exists local underground factories producing weapons.
