TEHRAN – The United States has approved more than $6.6 billion in new arms sales to Israel even as Israeli forces continue to violate a Washington-brokered ceasefire announced in October last year. The State Department confirmed that Israel will receive 30 Apache attack helicopters and other U.S.-made military vehicles, despite the fact that these same systems have been repeatedly used against Palestinians in the occupied West Bank and Gaza Strip.

In its announcement, the State Department claimed it is “vital to U.S. national interests” to ensure Israel maintains a “strong and ready self-defense capability.” Yet since the ceasefire took effect on October 10, Israeli forces have killed more than 500 Palestinians. These deaths add to the devastating toll of Israel’s broader assault. The Israeli army has killed over 71,600 Palestinians since October 7, 2023. 

Human rights groups and UN experts have urged Washington to halt weapons transfers, arguing that U.S. arms have enabled what they describe as a genocidal campaign in Gaza. Their warnings stand in stark contrast to the State Department’s framing. Apache helicopters and armored assault vehicles are not defensive tools; they are offensive weapons used in densely populated civilian areas. Calling them instruments of “self-defense” obscures their real-world impact and shields the U.S. from responsibility for the destruction they help inflict.

The claim that Israel needs billions in offensive weaponry for protection also ignores the fundamental power imbalance of military occupation. Palestinians live under Israeli control without an army, navy, or air force. To portray one of the world’s most heavily armed militaries as the vulnerable party is to invert reality and erase the daily violence Palestinians endure.

By approving massive arms sales while speaking the language of de-escalation, Washington undermines its own ceasefire and positions itself as an enabler rather than a mediator. The State Department’s rhetoric reduces Palestinian suffering to a footnote in U.S. strategic calculations, even as entire neighborhoods in Gaza lie in ruins.