What happened
Following Hamas's 7 October 2023 attack on Israel, the Biden administration moved quickly to supply Israel with military equipment, in several instances using emergency authorities that let it bypass the standard congressional notification and review period for arms sales. Over roughly five months, this amounted to more than 100 separate weapons transfers, including thousands of precision-guided munitions, small-diameter bombs, and 2,000-pound bunker-buster bombs — the same category of munition documented being used on crowded areas of Gaza.
By the time Palestinian civilian deaths in Gaza had passed 21,000, mostly women and children according to local health authorities, the administration continued to publicly frame its approach as one of urging restraint and civilian protection, while internal diplomatic cables reviewed by journalists did not reflect those public concerns being raised as forcefully in private channels, and continued to approve the weapons transfers that made the campaign's continuation possible.
Some Democratic lawmakers began pushing to make further military aid conditional on concrete steps to reduce civilian casualties, a position the administration did not adopt as formal policy during the period documented here.