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<\/p>\nThey could be another young couple heading out for the evening.<\/p>\n
But the assault rifle slung around the shoulders of this young woman helps lay bare the grim everyday reality faced by Israelis.<\/p>\n
The pair were seen walking hand-in-hand through Jerusalem on Monday, amid heightened tensions in the city.<\/p>\n
Prior to Hamas’s brutal massacre on October 7, Israel had strict gun laws, permitting licences only to people who could prove they needed extra security.<\/p>\n
Applications previously took months to process but can now be approved within days of filling out an online form.<\/p>\n
<\/p>\n
A young couple head out for a night in Jerusalem, with the woman wearing a rifle across her body<\/p>\n
![](\"https:\/\/i.dailymail.co.uk\/1s\/2023\/12\/05\/22\/78618331-12829675-Men_pray_at_the_Western_Wall_in_the_Old_City_of_Jerusalem_as_ten-a-1_1701814560129.jpg\")
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Men pray at the Western Wall in the Old City of Jerusalem as tensions continue to increase between Israel and Hamas<\/p>\n
Gun shops and shooting ranges in Israel have since been inundated with civilians looking to buy firearms to protect their families.<\/p>\n
Less than a month after Hamas’s attacks there had been 150,000 applications for gun licences, compared to just 42 in the same period, last year.<\/p>\n
Israel’s police minister Itamar Ben-Gvir has previously described gun ownership as a precaution against internal unrest between Jews and Israel’s Arab minority.<\/p>\n
In a televised speech after the attacks, Israel’s president Benjamin Netanyahu said the government would be ‘encouraging civilians and helping civilians to arm themselves for their self-defense’.<\/p>\n