What to know about U.S. military aid to Israel

By
April 2, 2024 at 4:00 a.m. EDT
Smoke rises following an Israeli airstrike in the central Gaza Strip on March 22. (Abdel Kareem Hana/AP)
6 min

Israel has received more U.S. military aid — and more U.S. aid of any type — than any other country since World War II.

That assistance has long been a matter of ironclad, bipartisan near-consensus. But in recent months, it has come under mounting scrutiny, including from some Democratic legislators, amid the emergence of rifts between the United States and Israel over Israel’s conduct in its war in Gaza — in which U.S.-provided weapons are in widespread use.

Israel has been waging war in Gaza since Oct. 7, when Hamas, the Palestinian group that has long controlled the territory, led a cross-border attack that left 1,200 people dead. The Israeli assault on Gaza has left the Strip in ruins, and has left at least 32,000 Gazans dead, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and noncombatants.

The United States has supplied Israel with weapons since the war began. While President Biden has pushed for Israel to allow more aid into the enclave to avert famine and has resisted Israeli plans to invade the southern Gaza city of Rafah, where displaced Palestinians are densely packed, military aid has remained untouched.

Here is what to know about U.S. military aid to Israel.