Supporting Israel's war on Gaza and other escalations in the Middle East has cost the United States at least $22.76 billion since October 7, 2023, the Costs of War Project at Brown University said in a research paper published Monday.

The cost of the war was arrived at, a very conservative estimate, by combining the cost of US military aid to Israel with the cost of related US military operations in the region, including the war against the Houthis in Yemen.

The report found that the US government approved at least $17.9 billion in military aid to support Israeli military operations in Gaza and elsewhere in the region over the past year, a figure far greater than any other year since the US began providing military aid to Israel in 1959. The report notes that US military support to Israel is difficult to track due to the Biden administration’s lack of transparency.

“For example, the Biden administration has concluded at least 100 arms deals with Israel since October 2023 that were below the value that would have triggered a requirement to notify Congress of the details,” the paper said.

The $17.9 billion does not include a major $20.3 billion arms deal that the Foreign Ministry approved for Israel last August, with the money to be spent over the coming years. It is also unclear at this time how much of the $20.3 billion, which includes an $18.8 billion deal for F-15 fighter jets, will be covered by U.S. military aid through 2028. The paper details how the United States has supplied Israel with weapons for decades. “The United States has been Israel’s largest arms supplier for more than five decades.

“Israel is the largest cumulative recipient of U.S. aid in the world since World War II, and is in the midst of a 10-year, $38 billion military aid agreement negotiated under the Obama administration that covers fiscal years 2019 through 2028,” the paper states.

The report says the United States has spent at least $4.8 billion on its military operations in the Middle East, including $2.4 billion on intercepting Houthi missiles and drones and launching missile strikes on Yemen.

Another $2.4 billion for spending on U.S. operations in the region was included in the $95 billion foreign military assistance bill that President Biden signed into law in April.

The bill adds another $50 million to $70 million in additional combat pay for U.S. military personnel. The cost to American taxpayers will continue to rise as there is no end in sight to Israel’s genocidal war in Gaza or its bombing and incursion campaign in Lebanon.

The risk of a full-scale war with Iran is also very high as the United States is coordinating with Israel on its plans to attack Iran in response to the Iranian missile barrage that struck Israel last week, which was in response to several Israeli escalations.

The US bombing campaign in Yemen has also failed to deter the Houthis, who have vowed they will not stop their attacks on shipping unless there is a ceasefire in Gaza.