Tel Aviv, 6 December 2023 (dpa/MIA) - According to Israeli figures, more than 10,000 tons of military equipment have been delivered to Israel by the US since the beginning of the Gaza war.

The 200th cargo plane carrying such equipment has landed, the Defence Ministry announced on Wednesday. Among others, armoured vehicles, ammunition, personal protection equipment and medical equipment have been delivered as part of a joint initiative led by the US Department of Defence in conjunction with Israel.

Washington is Israel's most important ally. The US government has repeatedly reaffirmed Israel's right to self-defence since the beginning of the Gaza war on October 7.

However, due to the high number of civilian casualties in the Gaza Strip as a result of Israel's attacks, the US government is also taking an increasingly cautionary tone. It is calling on Israel to provide more effective protection for civilians in the war against the Palestinian Islamist Hamas movement.

In the past, the US has supported Israel with military aid worth billions.

The Gaza war was triggered by the worst massacre in Israel's history, carried out by Hamas terrorists and other terrorist groups on October 7 in Israel near the border with the Gaza Strip. More than 1,200 people were killed.

In response, Israel launched massive airstrikes and, since the end of October, a ground offensive in the Gaza Strip.

According to the Hamas-controlled Ministry of Health, more than 16,200 people have now been killed in Gaza. This cannot be independently verified at present, but the UN and observers point out that the authority's figures have proved to be generally credible in the past.

Photo: MIA archive