Israel has received more U.S. military aid — and more U.S. aid of any type — than any other country since World War II.

That assistance has long been a matter of ironclad, bipartisan near-consensus. But in recent months, it has come under mounting scrutiny, including from some Democratic legislators, amid the emergence of rifts between the United States and Israel over Israel’s conduct of its war in Gaza — in which U.S.-provided weapons are in widespread use.

President Biden stated this week that he would halt a shipment of U.S. offensive weapons to Israel — which he acknowledged have been used to kill civilians in Gaza — if it moves ahead with a long-planned ground invasion of the city of Rafah.

“I made it clear that if they go into Rafah — they haven’t gone in Rafah yet — if they go into Rafah, I’m not supplying the weapons that have been used historically,” Biden told CNN in an interview.

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He said the United States would continue to provide Israel with defensive weapons, including those for the Iron Dome missile defense system so it can protect itself from attacks, but underscored that supplying offensive weapons for a major incursion into Rafah was off the table. “It’s just wrong,” he added.

The Biden administration has already paused at least one weapons delivery to Israel, including controversial 2,000-pound bombs, because of concerns about civilian casualties.

Israel has been waging war in Gaza since Oct. 7, when Hamas, the Palestinian group that has long controlled the territory, led a cross-border attack that killed about 1,200 people. The Israeli assault on Gaza has left the Strip in ruins, and has left at least 34,000 Gazans dead, according to the Gaza Health Ministry, which does not distinguish between combatants and noncombatants.

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The United States has supplied Israel with weapons since the war began.

While Biden has pushed for Israel to allow more aid into the enclave to avert famine and has been publicly critical of Israeli plans to invade Rafah, where displaced Palestinians are densely packed, military aid has remained untouched until now.

Here is what to know about U.S. military aid to Israel.

What to know

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