U.S.-supplied arms have been critical to Israeli operations in Gaza, the West Bank, and beyond.

On Tuesday, the “Costs of War Project” at Brown University’s Watson Institute for International and Public Affairs released a study showing that the United States has spent US$21.7 billion on military aid to Israel since the outbreak of the latest Gaza conflict on Oct. 7, 2023.

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The study noted that under both the Biden and Trump administrations, agreements with an additional tens of billions of dollars of arms sales have been committed for weapons and related services that will be paid for in the coming years.

U.S.-supplied arms have been critical to Israeli occupation forces’ operations in Gaza, the West Bank, and beyond. Most of the weapons currently used by Israel in Gaza and across the Middle East come from its existing U.S.-made inventory, according to the study, which was produced in collaboration with the Washington-based Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft.

Given the scale of current and future spending, the study suggested, it is clear that the IDF could not have inflicted such extensive damage in Gaza or escalated military activities across the region without U.S. financing, weapons, and political support.

A companion report estimated that the United States has spent an additional US$9.65-12.07 billion on military operations in Yemen and the wider region that were either triggered by or conducted in support of Israeli military actions since Oct. 7, 2023. This brings total U.S. spending in the Middle East over the past two years to US$31.35-33.77 billion and counting.

From 2020 to 2024, private contractors received US$2.4 trillion in contracts from the U.S. Department of Defense, accounting for roughly 54 percent of the Pentagon’s discretionary spending of US$4.4 trillion dollars, according to the Costs of War Project.

As of early September 2025, Israeli occupation forces have killed 67,075 Palestinians and injured 169,430 people in Gaza. These 236,505 casualties represent more than 10 percent of Gaza’s pre-war population.

As a result of Zionist operations, at least 5.27 million people have been displaced or forced to flee their homes in Gaza, Iran, Israel, Lebanon, and the West Bank since Oct. 7, 2023 — including an estimated 1.85 million children under 18.

teleSUR/ JF

Source: Xinhua

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