US denies Israeli request for more Apache attack helicopters: report

The United States has denied Israel's request for more of the Apache attack helicopters being used in its war on Gaza and its attacks in the West Bank and Lebanon, Israeli media reported Tuesday.

Israel made the request to the US Defence Department for more Apache helicopters in recent weeks, and the request arose again when Israeli Defence Minister Yoav Gallant met his US counterpart Lloyd Austin in Israel last week, the Israeli Ynet news site reported.

Denial of the request for the helicopters is not final, and Israel will continue to push to acquire the aircraft, Ynet reported security sources as saying.

Israel has been using its existing Apache aircraft in its indiscriminate war on Gaza, where an Israeli air and ground assault that began on 7 October has killed more than 20,600 people, most of them women and children.

It has also used the helicopters, which are made by US military company Boeing, in its attacks on southern Lebanon, and on the occupied West Bank.

The US has so far given Israel near-unlimited support in its war on Gaza, providing it with tens of thousands of tonnes of arms and weapons since October.

However, Washington has increasingly been making public calls for Israel to show restraint in its onslaught on Gaza - though it continues to assert its general support for the Israeli operation.

During his trip to Israel, Austin said that he had urged Tel Aviv to make its war more "surgical" in order to prevent so many civilian deaths. 

Israel appears to have ignored such requests, bombing a refugee camp and civilian homes in the last few days alone and killing hundreds of civilians.

The US has more consistently urged Israel not to launch a full-blown war against Hezbollah militants in southern Lebanon. Fighting there has already killed dozens and displaced tens of thousands of people.

Israel had been requesting new Apache helicopters from the US well before launching its latest war on Gaza, according to Israeli media reports.

It was looking to buy some 20 Apache helicopters from the US back in May, to replace its ageing fleet of the aircraft, news site Walla reported at the time.