Gunfire Reported Near Smotrich's Lod Conference as He Proposes Weapons Crackdown

Gunfire was reported near a Religious Zionism conference in Lod on Saturday evening attended by Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich. Police searched the area, but no firing scene had been identified and no damage was known at the time of the initial reports. Smotrich called for emergency legislation against illegal weapons and organized crime, proposing that unlawful weapons possession be treated as terrorism and that the Shin Bet take part in enforcement. He also proposed administrative detention and financial measures against criminal organizations; these were proposals, rather than measures announced as enacted.