Washington, DC – Three years into Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza, little has changed in terms of official US support. The government in Washington, under former President Joe Biden and current President Donald Trump, has continued near-complete unconditional military aid to Israel since October 7, 2023, even as the region has exploded into wider conflict, including the US-Israeli war with Iran. The US aid has persisted even through periods when the administrations offered tame criticism of the government of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s military offensive in Gaza, repeated violations of a “ceasefire” reached last year, and roadblocks to a more lasting peace in the Palestinian enclave and wider region.
To date, at least 74,243 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel, which killed at least 1,139 people. At least 1,460 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the October 11, 2025 ceasefire went into effect as Israel has continued to expand its area of control. The United States has for decades offered Israel outsized military support and preferential access to US weapons, with Washington providing nearly $300bn in aid since its creation in 1948 when adjusted for inflation, more than any other country.
Washington has repeatedly codified support for Israel, most notably through a 2008 law that requires the US government to assure Israel maintains a so-called Qualitative Military Edge (QME) over its neighbours. Because of that, Israel’s military remains deeply intertwined with the US government and US-made weapons, upon which it relies for its air force, several of its most devastating munitions, tanks and other military vehicles, as well as its Iron Dome, David’s Sling and Iron Beam air defence systems. Rights groups, including Amnesty International, have repeatedly linked US-made weapons to civilian killings in Gaza and the wider region, although Israel has blocked independent monitors from entering the Palestinian enclave.
Since October 7, 2023, the US has provided at least $25.5bn in appropriations to Israel, money that comes directly from government coffers funded by US taxpayers. The most direct form of US military support comes from government appropriations to Israel, which account for $3.8bn a year under a 10-year memorandum of understanding signed by the administration of former President Barack Obama in 2016. The figure includes the $3.8bn a year appropriated in fiscal years 2024, 2025, and 2026.
It also includes a towering supplemental security package of $14.1bn, passed by Congress and signed into law in April 2024. The funding is predominantly made up of so-called Foreign Military Financing, which provides funds for US-made arms transfers and other services, and to a lesser degree, so-called offshore procurements, which provide funds for Israel to build its domestic arms industry. Other portions of the funding are specifically allocated to replenish existing weapons stocks and maintain Israel’s air defence systems.
Israel also has access to a so-called War Reserves Stockpile, a programme that keeps a store of certain US weapons in the country, allowing for swift access upon approval from Washington. Direct US government appropriations overlap with arms sales to Israel. Such sales – which must be approved by the US State Department, which in turn must notify the US Congress – can be paid for with US military aid or from other funding sources.
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