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US Completes 500th Arms Delivery to Israel Since Oct. 7
An IDF tank approaches Israel’s border with Gaza. Photo: Reuters/Amir Cohen
The US has completed its 500th arms shipment to Israel since Hamas launched the ongoing war in Gaza on Oct. 7, according to the Israeli Defense Ministry.
The Biden administration has delivered over 50,000 tons of weapons to the Jewish state, assisting in its attempt to vanquish the Hamas terrorist group from the Gaza Strip. The arms deliveries since Oct. 7 — when Hamas-led Palestinian terrorists invaded southern Israel, murdered 1,200 people, and kidnapped about 250 hostages — have consisted of both offensive and defensive weapons.
Israel’s Defense Ministry stated that the shipments included “armored vehicles, munitions, ammunition, personal protection gear, and medical equipment, which are crucial for sustaining the IDF’s [Israel Defense Force’s] operational capabilities during the ongoing war.”
US military assistance to Israel has been a key focus of discussion between Washington and Jerusalem over the past 10 months.
Last week, US President Joe Biden and Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu discussed “active and ongoing US efforts to support Israel’s defense against all threats from Iran, including its proxy terrorist groups Hamas, Hezbollah, and the Houthis,” the White House said.
During his address to a joint session of the US Congress in July, Netanyahu urged American lawmakers to approve new arms shipments to Israel, arguing that a fresh batch of heavy-duty weapons would “expedite” an end to the war in Gaza.
The Biden administration halted deliveries of 2,000- and 500-pound bombs to Israel in May, citing disagreement with the Jewish state’s decision to greenlight military operations in the southern Gaza city of Rafah. The White House argued that an intensive military campaign in Rafah would recklessly endanger the lives of Palestinian civilians. Israel insisted that extensive operations in Rafah were necessary to dismantle the remaining Hamas battalions in Gaza.
Netanyahu complicated matters in June after he released a video publicly accusing the Biden administration of withholding arms shipments and indicating he was promised by US Secretary of State Antony Blinken that Washington would resolve the delays. The video incensed the White House, throwing a wrench in ongoing negotiations with Israel to resume weapons transfers.
The Jewish state may also need increased weapons shipments as it continues its standoff against the Hezbollah terrorist group in Lebanon. Hezbollah terrorists have been firing rockets at Israel daily from southern Lebanon since Hamas’ Oct. 7 massacre, leading Israeli forces to strike back.
Some 80,000 Israelis have evacuated Israel’s north and been unable to return to their homes. The majority of those spent the past 10 months residing in hotels in safer areas of the country.
On Sunday, Israel launched preemptive strikes against Hezbollah military targets in Lebanon, destroying thousands of drones and rocket launchers belonging to the terrorist group, after detecting an imminent attack on the Jewish state. Hezbollah, which is Iran’s chief proxy force in the Middle East, subsequently fired some 300 projectiles into Israel.
Analysts have suggested that Israel’s successful attacks on Lebanese military targets potentially saved the two countries from escalating into a broader war, indicating that arming Israel might help stave off a region-wide conflict.
“Both [Hezbollah and Israel] are pleased with the results, which makes a descent into full-blown war less likely,” a senior Middle Eastern diplomat told The Washington Post.
The post US Completes 500th Arms Delivery to Israel Since Oct. 7 first appeared on Algemeiner.com.
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After False Dawns, Gazans Hope Trump Will Force End to Two-Year-Old War
Palestinians walk past a residential building destroyed in previous Israeli strikes, after Hamas agreed to release hostages and accept some other terms in a US plan to end the war, in Nuseirat, central Gaza Strip October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Mahmoud Issa
Exhausted Palestinians in Gaza clung to hopes on Saturday that US President Donald Trump would keep up pressure on Israel to end a two-year-old war that has killed tens of thousands and displaced the entire population of more than two million.
Hamas’ declaration that it was ready to hand over hostages and accept some terms of Trump’s plan to end the conflict while calling for more talks on several key issues was greeted with relief in the enclave, where most homes are now in ruins.
“It’s happy news, it saves those who are still alive,” said 32-year-old Saoud Qarneyta, reacting to Hamas’ response and Trump’s intervention. “This is enough. Houses have been damaged, everything has been damaged, what is left? Nothing.”
GAZAN RESIDENT HOPES ‘WE WILL BE DONE WITH WARS’
Ismail Zayda, 40, a father of three, displaced from a suburb in northern Gaza City where Israel launched a full-scale ground operation last month, said: “We want President Trump to keep pushing for an end to the war, if this chance is lost, it means that Gaza City will be destroyed by Israel and we might not survive.
“Enough, two years of bombardment, death and starvation. Enough,” he told Reuters on a social media chat.
“God willing this will be the last war. We will hopefully be done with the wars,” said 59-year-old Ali Ahmad, speaking in one of the tented camps where most Palestinians now live.
“We urge all sides not to backtrack. Every day of delay costs lives in Gaza, it is not just time wasted, lives get wasted too,” said Tamer Al-Burai, a Gaza City businessman displaced with members of his family in central Gaza Strip.
After two previous ceasefires — one near the start of the war and another earlier this year — lasted only a few weeks, he said; “I am very optimistic this time, maybe Trump’s seeking to be remembered as a man of peace, will bring us real peace this time.”
RESIDENT WORRIES THAT NETANYAHU WILL ‘SABOTAGE’ DEAL
Some voiced hopes of returning to their homes, but the Israeli military issued a fresh warning to Gazans on Saturday to stay out of Gaza City, describing it as a “dangerous combat zone.”
Gazans have faced previous false dawns during the past two years, when Trump and others declared at several points during on-off negotiations between Hamas, Israel and Arab and US mediators that a deal was close, only for war to rage on.
“Will it happen? Can we trust Trump? Maybe we trust Trump, but will Netanyahu abide this time? He has always sabotaged everything and continued the war. I hope he ends it now,” said Aya, 31, who was displaced with her family to Deir Al-Balah in the central Gaza Strip.
She added: “Maybe there is a chance the war ends at October 7, two years after it began.”
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Mass Rally in Rome on Fourth Day of Italy’s Pro-Palestinian Protests
A Pro-Palestinian demonstrator waves a Palestinian flag during a national protest for Gaza in Rome, Italy, October 4, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Claudia Greco
Large crowds assembled in central Rome on Saturday for the fourth straight day of protests in Italy since Israel intercepted an international flotilla trying to deliver aid to Gaza, and detained its activists.
People holding banners and Palestinian flags, chanting “Free Palestine” and other slogans, filed past the Colosseum, taking part in a march that organizers hoped would attract at least 1 million people.
“I’m here with a lot of other friends because I think it is important for us all to mobilize individually,” Francesco Galtieri, a 65-year-old musician from Rome, said. “If we don’t all mobilize, then nothing will change.”
Since Israel started blocking the flotilla late on Wednesday, protests have sprung up across Europe and in other parts of the world, but in Italy they have been a daily occurrence, in multiple cities.
On Friday, unions called a general strike in support of the flotilla, with demonstrations across the country that attracted more than 2 million, according to organizers. The interior ministry estimated attendance at around 400,000.
Italy’s right-wing government has been critical of the protests, with Prime Minister Giorgia Meloni suggesting that people would skip work for Gaza just as an excuse for a longer weekend break.
On Saturday, Meloni blamed protesters for insulting graffiti that appeared on a statue of the late Pope John Paul II outside Rome’s main train station, where Pro-Palestinian groups have been holding a protest picket.
“They say they are taking to the streets for peace, but then they insult the memory of a man who was a true defender and builder of peace. A shameful act committed by people blinded by ideology,” she said in a statement.
Israel launched its Gaza offensive after Hamas terrorists staged a cross border attack on October 7, 2023, killing some 1,200 people and taking 251 people hostage.
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Hamas Says It Agrees to Release All Israeli Hostages Under Trump Gaza Plan
Smoke rises during an Israeli military operation in Gaza City, as seen from the central Gaza Strip, October 2, 2025. Photo: REUTERS/Dawoud Abu Alkas
Hamas said on Friday it had agreed to release all Israeli hostages, alive or dead, under the terms of US President Donald Trump’s Gaza proposal, and signaled readiness to immediately enter mediated negotiations to discuss the details.