The announcement comes as the US continues to support Tel Aviv during the Gaza war, with some Western governments criticizing Israeli actions and imposing restrictions on arms exports.

Spain issued a royal decree in September imposing a full arms embargo on Israel, while last year the UK, Germany, and Canada imposed limits on weapons transfers.

“The 1,000th aircraft in the comprehensive military equipment and weapons airlift operation, which commenced immediately following the outbreak of war, has landed in Israel,” said a ministry statement, calling the operation “unprecedented” in Israeli history.

The aircraft, carrying a large shipment of military equipment, was received by Defense Ministry Director-General Maj. Gen. Amir Baram, the ministry added.

“To date, over 120,000 tons of military equipment, munitions, weapons systems, and protective gear have been transferred to Israel via 1,000 aircraft and approximately 150 maritime vessels,” the statement read.

The statement did not specify the exact origins of the shipments. However, it said the operation is jointly managed by the Defense Ministry’s Procurement Directorate, through the International Defense Transportation Unit, the ministry’s missions in the US and Berlin, the army’s Planning and Force Build-Up Directorate, and the Israeli Air Force.

An October report by the Washington-based Quincy Institute for Responsible Statecraft said the US has provided Israel with at least $21.7 billion in military assistance since the start of the Gaza genocide two years ago.

After Oct. 7, 2023, the US supplied $17.9 billion in military aid during the term of former President Joe Biden, and $3.8 billion under current President Donald Trump, according to the report. Some of that assistance has already been delivered, while the remainder will arrive in the coming years.

The report said Israel would not be able to continue its genocide in Gaza without US support.

Since October 2023, the Israeli army has killed nearly 70,000 people in Gaza, mostly women and children, injured over 170,000, and reduced most of the enclave to rubble.

According to the daily newspaper Yedioth Ahronoth, representatives from the army’s Personnel Administration told the Knesset’s Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee that about 600 career personnel, including senior officers and professional non-commissioned officers, have asked to effectively “resign” early.

“There were those whose retirement we postponed throughout the war (in Gaza) because of their necessity, simply because there are no replacements for them,” one military official told lawmakers.

Military officials said 85% of career soldiers retire “at the rank of lieutenant colonel or below.”

Bar Kalifa, an Israeli army official who addressed the committee, linked the growing crisis to the Supreme Court’s recent ruling striking down pension supplements for career officers.

He also pointed to “the broader issue of the IDF’s (army) manpower shortage amid the ongoing exemption from military service for ultra-Orthodox Jews” at a time when troops “began maneuvering in Gaza City.”

The army “needs another 12,000 soldiers,” he added.

On Aug. 8, Israel’s Security Cabinet approved a plan by Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to gradually reoccupy the Gaza Strip, beginning with Gaza City, before the plan was shelved after a ceasefire took effect on Oct. 10.

He added that Haredi leadership “is escalating its rhetoric, and their protests are draining resources from both the army and the police.”

Kalifa also warned of a surge in draft evasion.

“We now have more than 17,000 draft dodgers. Dodging the draft has become the norm,” he stated, adding, “There’s an army of lawyers fraudulently securing exemptions for draft dodgers.”

Haredim, who make up about 13% of Israel’s population of 10 million, claim military service threatens their religious identity and community structure, as they dedicate their lives to Torah study. Prominent rabbis have urged followers to reject the draft and “tear up enlistment orders.”

For decades, most ultra-Orthodox men avoided service through repeated deferments for religious study until reaching the exemption age, currently set at 26.

Opposition lawmakers accuse Netanyahu of pushing legislation to permanently exempt the Haredim to satisfy demands by the ultra-Orthodox Shas and United Torah Judaism parties, both of which left the coalition earlier this year but are expected to rejoin once such a law passes.

More than 69,000 Palestinians have been killed and over 170,700 others injured in the Israeli war on Gaza since October 2023.