An Israeli soldier moves a 155 mm artillery shell near a self-propelled howitzer close to Lebanon. (Photo by AFP)

Tel Aviv, September 27 (RHC)-- Israel's Ministry of War Affairs says it has secured an $8.7 billion aid package from the United States to support its ongoing military plans across the region.

In a statement released on Thursday, the ministry said the deal was concluded after a series of high-level meetings between Israeli and U.S. authorities in Washington. 

"The package includes $3.5 billion for essential wartime procurement ... and $5.2 billion designated for air defense systems, including the Iron Dome, David's Sling and an advanced laser system," the ministry said in a statement.

The aid package comes at a time when Israel is waging its military campaigns of death and destruction in the besieged Gaza Strip and Lebanon. 

Palestinian president Mahmud Abbas, in his address to the UN General Assembly in New York Thursday, accused the United States of providing Israel with the "deadly weapons that it used to kill thousands of innocent civilians, children and women."

The Palestinian Authority chief called out the U.S. for refusing a permanent ceasefire earlier in the war on Gaza, refusing to recognize the state of Palestine, and turning a blind eye to Israeli aggression.

Abbas said he doesn’t understand why the United States “insists on opposing” Palestinians.  “We regret that the United States obstructed three times draft resolutions of the Security Council demanding Israel to observe a ceasefire,” said Abbas.  “The U.S. alone stood and said, ‘No, the fighting is going to continue.'”

He added that this only encouraged Israel to continue the war.  “As long as the U.S. is supporting it, then why not keep going?”

The Palestinian president also said that people in Lebanon are being subjected to a “war of genocide.”  “We condemn this aggression, and we demand that it stops immediately,” said Abbas.

It has been almost a year since the start of the Israeli military campaign in Gaza, where Israel has been killing civilians and razing infrastructure.  Amid the failure in Gaza, the Israeli regime's prime minister, Benjamin Netanyahu, has now shifted focus to Lebanon. 

The U.S. support for Israel's bloodshed has been so unconditional that it has prompted the closest allies of Washington and Tel Aviv to speak up and urge an end to the American administration's blind backing of the Israeli regime.