Delhi, Tel Aviv boost defence ties, despite UN report claiming India frequently supplied arms to Israel during Gaza offensive

New Delhi: India and Israel signed a Memorandum of Understanding on defence cooperation on Tuesday even as a United Nations report recently put the South Asian nation among the countries that “most frequently” supplied arms and ammunition to the West Asian Jewish nation during its military offensives in Gaza in the past 24 months.

The MoU on defence cooperation was signed in Tel Aviv on the same day External Affairs Minister S Jaishankar hosted Israeli Foreign Minister Gideon Sa’ar in New Delhi. The two ministers also witnessed the signing of another MoU for cooperation in the field of training of diplomats.

The two sides further moved to “deepen the already strong defence cooperation” – just about a fortnight after Francesca Albanese, a UN Special Rapporteur on Human Right Situation in occupied Palestine, presented a report titled “Gaza Genocide: A Collective Crime” on October 20. The report pointed out that 26 countries had sent at least 10 consignments of “arms and ammunition” to Israel between October 2023 and October 2025, and India had been one of the countries, which had “most frequently” done so.

The UN Secretary General, António Guterres, forwarded the report to the General Assembly of the international organisation.

Israel launched the military offensive in Gaza in October 2023. The offensive was launched in response to the attacks on southern Israel by the terrorists of Qassam Brigades, the armed wing of Hamas, who had killed 1,139 people and taken 240 to Gaza as hostages. Israeli military offensives in the past two years resulted in the death of over 68000 people, including women and children, according to the data compiled by the health authorities of Gaza.

Albanese reported that China, including Taiwan, Italy, Austria, Spain, Czechia, Romania and France were the other nations that had been most frequent in sending weapons to Israel.

“India and Israel have a strategic partnership and particularly in our case, that term has a real meaning. We have stood together in testing times. And we have created a relationship with a high degree of trust and of reliability,” Jaishankar said in his opening remarks at the meeting with Sa’ar, adding, “Our two nations face a particular challenge from terrorism. It is essential that we work towards ensuring a global approach of zero-tolerance towards terrorism, in all its forms and manifestations.”

“The eradication of the Hamas terrorist state is at the heart of President (Donald) Trump's plan. We will not compromise on it,” said Sa’ar, who travelled to New Delhi and met Jaishankar amid speculation about a visit by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu to India. Earlier, several ministers of Israel visited India, including the ones holding the portfolios of agriculture, economy, tourism and finance. The two sides recently concluded a Bilateral Investment Treaty.

“In recent times, India has developed many new capabilities, especially in rail, road and port infrastructure, in renewable energy and in health. Our businesses are very keen to explore opportunities in Israel and we would certainly like to give that more attention,” Jaishankar told Sa’ar.

Sa’ar on Tuesday also met National Security Advisor Ajit Doval.

Trump’s peace plan for Gaza received support from New Delhi, with Prime Minister Narendra Modi, himself, posting on X welcoming it. After an agreement was reached for the implementation of the first phase of Trump’s 20-point peace plan for Gaza, Modi called the US president on October 9 to congratulate him on the success of his endeavour to end the conflict between Hamas and Israel. He also called Netanyahu. The first phase of implementation of the plan was almost completed as the hostages had been freed and mortal remains of the deceased had been handed over to Israel, in exchange for the release of some Palestinians from the custody of the West Asian Jewish nation.

New Delhi has been calling for a negotiated two-state solution to the Israel-Palestine issue, leading to the establishment of a sovereign, independent, and viable State of Palestine living within secure and recognised borders, side-by-side in peace with Israel, with East Jerusalem as its capital. After the BJP’s ascent to power in 2014, with India-Israel ties expanding, New Delhi, however, stopped supporting the demand for East Jerusalem to be the capital of the future state of Palestine.