Some critics accused the Israeli government—and especially far-right National Security Minister Itamar Ben-Gvir—of enabling settler attacks by handing out thousands of military assault rifles to settlement residents.

“As it drops bomb after bomb on Palestinians in Gaza, Israel is giving 1000s of machine guns to extremist Israelis, including settlers in the Palestinian West Bank. There have already been reports of Israeli settlers using the weapons to attack every Palestinian they see,” the California-based Institute for Middle East Understanding (IMEU) said on social media Thursday.