Philippines says no new military acquisitions from Israel amid war in Gaza

• Elbit Systems funds genocide and ongoing slaughter of Gazans, Palestinians, lawmaker Renee Louise Co warns Teodoro

ISTANBUL

The Philippines has said that the Southeast Asian nation, a military ally of the US, has signed no new military acquisitions from Israel amid the ongoing war in Gaza.

Defense Secretary Gilbert Teodoro confirmed to lawmakers that Manila “has not entered into new contracts with Israeli arms manufacturers, but the Philippine Army continues to procure munitions from an Israel-based weapons dealer, as part of earlier acquisitions.”

Teodoro was addressing Philippines Congress’ House Committee on Appropriations budget hearing on Tuesday where he explained the Philippines Army’s situation, according to ABS-CBN network.

“Right now, it's just the continuing of past contracts. We have no new contracts with any Israel-based companies. Our issue is to secure our supply chains with them. Right now that they are involved in a conflict, I myself won't be comfortable that they will put a contract on par with their own needs,” the Philippines defense chief said.

Israel has killed more than 65,000 Palestinians in Gaza, most of them women and children, since October 2023. The relentless bombardment has rendered the enclave uninhabitable, and led to starvation and the spread of diseases.

Last week, Israel launched strikes on the Qatari capital, Doha, killing five Hamas members and a Qatari officer.

By hitting Qatar, Israel widened a campaign that has already included attacks on Iran in June, near-daily strikes in Lebanon and Syria, and a two-year-long genocidal war in Gaza and the occupied West Bank.

During the parliamentary hearing, the Philippines defense chief was told by lawmaker Renee Louise Co that a notice of award to Elbit Systems dated Aug. 11, 2025 amounted to P248 million ($15,057) for the procurement of precision-guided projectiles.

“Elbit Systems, it's the same one that funds the genocide and the ongoing slaughter of Gazans, Palestinians,” Co told the parliamentary committee.

However, Teodoro clarified that the “transaction was part of sustaining existing military platforms, not new acquisitions.”

But he admitted the Philippines Army “has little choice but to sustain the platforms acquired in 2022.”

“Right now, we're stuck with the systems… And to acquire the same systems will require a substantial allocation from the modernization. So, it was deemed wiser just to continue with the existing systems,” Teodoro noted.

“It was a lesson learned for us also in who we contract with, how we contract with, and what we write down on a contract. So, right now, we're in no position to decommission the capabilities, and because of the arrangement that was made before, which was probably good at the time, we're now stuck with it,” Teodoro said.

But the lawmaker Co urged the defense chief to “question and even exit this continuing contract given the concerns that we raised on record.”