Three Years On: US Military Support for Israel Remains Unchanged Despite Gaza Devastation

As the war in Gaza reaches its three-year mark, one constant has endured through two American presidencies: the United States continues to supply Israel with near-unconditional military assistance. Despite shifting rhetoric from Washington and a death toll that has surpassed 74,000 Palestinians, the flow of weapons, funding and diplomatic cover has remained largely uninterrupted since October 7, 2023.

The continuity spans the administrations of former President Joe Biden and current President Donald Trump. According to former State Department official Josh Paul, who now leads the lobbying firm A New Policy, both governments have maintained unconditional backing for Israel across financial, military and diplomatic channels. Paul noted that this support persists even when accounting for the broader costs of American military involvement in the region, which he attributed largely to US backing of Israel and Israeli actions.

The scale of American assistance is without parallel. Since Israel's founding in 1948, Washington has provided nearly $300 billion in aid when adjusted for inflation — more than to any other nation. A 2008 law formalized this relationship by requiring the US government to guarantee Israel a Qualitative Military Edge over its regional neighbors, cementing a defense partnership that now touches nearly every branch of Israel's armed forces.

That partnership is materially embedded in Israel's military capability. US-made weapons underpin Israel's air force, its stock of high-destruction munitions, its tank corps and other armored vehicles, and its layered air defense network — the Iron Dome, David's Sling and Iron Beam systems. Rights organizations, including Amnesty International, have repeatedly drawn connections between American-supplied weaponry and civilian deaths in Gaza and beyond, though Israel has barred independent monitors from entering the enclave.

Because the violence in Gaza constitutes genocide and the US has furnished so much of the weaponry involved, defense analyst William Hartung argued that Washington cannot escape its share of responsibility. Hartung, who has extensively studied US-Israel aid, told Al Jazeera that the sheer volume of arms transfers makes accountability unavoidable.

Since October 7, 2023, Congress has appropriated at least $25.5 billion to Israel — funds drawn directly from the US Treasury and paid for by American taxpayers. The most predictable stream comes from a 10-year memorandum of understanding signed by the Obama administration in 2016, which commits $3.8 billion annually. That baseline held for fiscal years 2024, 2025 and 2026. On top of it, lawmakers approved a sweeping supplemental security package of $14.1 billion in April 2024.

The funding is channeled primarily through Foreign Military Financing, which subsidizes purchases of American-made arms and related services, and to a smaller extent through offshore procurement programs that allow Israel to develop its own domestic defense industry. Additional sums are earmarked specifically to replenish weapons stockpiles and sustain Israel's air defense systems. Israel also benefits from a War Reserves Stockpile arrangement, under which the US keeps a cache of weapons on Israeli soil for rapid access once Washington grants approval.

Government appropriations and arms sales operate in tandem, often blurring the line between aid and commerce. Sales require State Department approval and congressional notification, and while they can theoretically be funded through other sources, Hartung estimated that the overwhelming majority are paid for with US military aid. Because sophisticated equipment can take years to produce and deliver, deals signed today lock the two militaries into a long-term relationship that outlasts the political moment that produced them.

The human cost continues to mount. At least 74,243 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza since the Hamas-led attacks on southern Israel killed at least 1,139 people. Even after a ceasefire took effect on October 11, 2025, at least 1,460 more Palestinians have been killed as Israel has continued expanding its zone of control in the territory.

The aid has flowed through moments that might once have seemed like inflection points. The Biden administration issued measured criticism of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu's offensive, including warnings against invading Rafah. A ceasefire reached last year has been repeatedly violated, according to the source account. And efforts toward a more durable peace — including Trump's announcement that his "Board of Peace" had reached an agreement on disarmament of Hamas in Gaza — have yet to alter the fundamental dynamics of US support.

Domestic politics show signs of strain. A Pelosi-backed US candidate recently called for a full arms embargo on Israel, reflecting shifting public sentiment even as official policy holds firm. Recommended coverage from Al Jazeera has focused on Netanyahu's efforts to control the election narrative and on three years of genocide documented through one man's camera.

For critics, the throughline is clear: whether the White House is occupied by a Democrat or a Republican, the machinery of military aid keeps moving. Paul's assessment — that unconditional support continues in finances, arms transfers and diplomacy — captures a policy that has proven resistant to both international condemnation and internal debate. The question now is whether a conflict that has already reshaped the region will eventually reshape the American consensus that sustains it.