Continuously receiving "huge" military aid from Washington, how is Israel using American weapons in the Gaza Strip?

With the current intensity of attacks, Israel's air defense system's ammunition and missile stocks will need to be constantly replenished. And this depends heavily on long-term US support.

Since Hamas launched a surprise attack on Israel on October 7, Israel has dropped more than 6,000 bombs on the Gaza Strip. In return, Hamas militants have fired more than 7,000 rockets from the Gaza Strip into Israel, many of which were intercepted by Israel's Iron Dome air defense system.

With such an intensity of attack, Israel's air defense system's ammunition and missile stocks will need to be constantly replenished. And this depends heavily on long-term US support.

Washington has pledged to increase military support for Israel, despite criticism of the Biden administration for failing to prevent Israel, the largest recipient of US military aid, from inflicting massive civilian casualties in its attacks on the Gaza Strip.

'Đột nhập' kho vũ khí mà Chính phủ Mỹ tài trợ cho Israel ở Gaza

The Israel Defense Forces (IDF) has become one of the world's most powerful armed forces. (Source: Reuters)

Washington's bold mark

R. Clarke Cooper, former US Assistant Secretary of State for Political -Military Affairs, who oversaw US arms transfers, said that Israel's defense supplies and equipment will be supplemented based on the rate of consumption and use in military operations in the Gaza Strip.

The United States has pledged to send Israel anti-aircraft missiles for the Iron Dome system, small diameter bombs (SDBs) and JDAM kits that convert unguided bombs into GPS-guided precision-guided ones. US conglomerate Boeing is said to be accelerating the delivery to Israel of up to 1,800 JDAMs manufactured in St. Charles, Missouri.

These additional deliveries will be made in addition to previously signed agreements with Israel regarding the delivery of advanced weapons, such as F-35 fighter jets, CH-53 heavy-lift helicopters and KC-46 aerial refueling aircraft, according to R. Clarke Cooper, currently a non-resident senior fellow at the Atlantic Council.

On November 2, the Biden administration also asked the US Congress to provide more aid to Israel, and the House of Representatives approved a $14.3 billion aid plan for Israel. The proposal focuses on providing support for Israel's air and missile defense systems and replenishing the military stockpiles that the US has provided to Israel.

Despite overwhelming bipartisan support for the aid to Israel, the administration’s proposal, along with a more than $60 billion aid package for Ukraine, has met with fierce opposition from some Republicans in Congress.

The additional aid to Israel is part of Washington's decades-long military support for Tel Aviv, which has helped turn the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) into one of the world's most powerful armed forces.

Since the State of Israel was founded in 1948, the United States has provided Israel with more than $130 billion in security assistance, more than any other country in the world. The United States still provides Israel with about $3.8 billion in security assistance each year.

For decades, the purpose of this US military assistance has been to ensure that Israel, its closest ally in the Middle East, maintains a “military edge” of overwhelming quality over its neighboring armies.

Thanks to this long-standing support, Israel's defense sector is heavily influenced by U.S. military assistance and equipment, said Elias Yousif, a U.S. military expert at the Stimson Center, a Washington, D.C.-based research organization, noting that Israel has developed its own robust defense industry through this support.

US foreign military funding currently accounts for about 16% of Israel's defense budget.

The role of US weapons is questioned.

As human rights groups express concern that Israel's military operations in the Gaza Strip have caused large civilian casualties, the US role in maintaining the strength of the IDF has been questioned.

Annie Shiel, US Advocacy Director for the Center for Civilians in Conflict, a human rights organization that protects civilians in conflicts, said that “because of the unique role of the US in providing military support to Israel, Washington bears a responsibility to ensure that its support does not cause serious harm to civilians and possibly violate International Humanitarian Law.”

Gaza is being devastated every day by large-scale Israeli bombardments. (Source: Getty)

“The public perception that the United States is part of this military campaign is troubling because there are going to be a lot of bad things that happen in the war going forward. And that’s what worries the U.S. government,” said Michael Hanna, director of the U.S. Program at the International Crisis Group (ICG).

Pentagon spokeswoman Sabrina Singh said on October 30 that the US has placed no restrictions on Israel’s use of weapons provided by Washington in the conflict. However, US officials, including Secretary of State Antony Blinken, said they are in contact with their Israeli counterparts to discuss the need to minimize civilian casualties.

According to expert Annie Shiel, among the weapons the US provides to Israel, “the transfer of thousands of 155mm artillery shells to Israel raises particular concerns because the use of weapons and explosives in densely populated areas will inevitably cause harm to civilians.”

Oxfam said the shells were also being used extensively in trench warfare in the Ukraine conflict, and could cause damage within a radius of 100-300m.

The lack of access to the Gaza Strip makes it particularly difficult to track the types of weapons and ammunition the IDF is using, according to weapons experts. However, most believe that it is very likely that US weapons are being used in the conflict.

“I think it is likely that American weapons are being widely used in military operations that Israel is carrying out in the Gaza Strip,” expert Elias Yousif predicted.

In the past, human rights organizations have said that US military weapons and equipment have been used in Israeli military operations that have killed civilians in locations where there were no obvious military targets nearby. In 2021, Human Rights Watch (HRW) asserted that US-made weapons were used in at least two such attacks, which could be considered a violation of the laws of war.

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