The US deputy special envoy to the Middle East said on Sunday that Washington had "given Israel a free hand" by providing it with "all the weapons it needs" to continue its war on Gaza.

In an interview with Fox News, Morgan Ortagus said that the administration of former US President Joe Biden "made Israel fight with one hand tied behind its back."

"They didn't have the weapons they needed, so they had to go back and get 30- and 40-year-old ammunition stockpiles," she said.

Referring to Israel as Washington's "closest ally," Ortagus noted that the Trump administration's first step in office was to ensure that Israel had "all the weapons it needed to end its war."

According to the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI), the United States is Israel's largest arms supplier, accounting for 66% of the country's arms imports between 2020 and 2024.

It's worth noting that in January 2025, two weeks before former US President Joe Biden left office, Washington approved the sale of $20 billion worth of military equipment to Israel, including air-to-air missiles, Hellfire missiles, artillery shells, and heavy bombs.

Last February, US President Trump rescinded an order signed by Biden requiring assurances that US weapons would not be used in violation of international human rights law.

This March, the Trump administration bypassed the usual congressional review to approve the sale of nearly $3 billion in additional arms to Israel.

Secretary of State Marco Rubio said in a statement that he "signed a proclamation using emergency authorities to expedite the delivery of nearly $4 billion in military aid to Israel."

He added that the Trump administration has so far approved arms sales to Israel worth approximately $12 billion.