ABNA24 - The United States has reportedly begun relocating fighter aircraft and aerial refueling planes from military bases across the region to “Israel” amid concerns over the vulnerability of its regional installations to intensified Iranian attacks, according to “Israeli” media reports.
Hebrew-language Channel 14 reported on Tuesday that Washington has started transferring fighter jets and tanker aircraft from regional bases to the occupied Palestinian territories following large-scale Iranian strikes.
Military and security analyst Noam Amir told the broadcaster that the United States currently lacks the capability to fully defend its military bases in the region against Iranian attacks.
"For this reason, the United States is evacuating these bases and relocating its fleet of aerial refueling aircraft and fighter squadrons to “Israel”," Amir said.
Separately, “Israeli” Army Radio quoted the occupation's transportation minister as saying he had informed the military that no additional US aerial refueling aircraft would be accepted at Ben Gurion Airport.
The remarks followed an earlier report by "Channel 12" that senior officials from the transportation ministry and Ben Gurion Airport held an emergency meeting on July 20 to discuss a new US request to deploy dozens of additional military tanker aircraft to the airport.
According to the report, Washington is seeking to station several dozen refueling aircraft in “Israel” over the coming days, raising concerns over airport capacity and the impact on civilian air traffic.
Channel 12 said the issue comes as the occupation's aviation sector continues to experience major disruptions, with the number of domestic and international airlines operating flights to “Israel” having declined sharply since the outbreak of the Gaza war in October 2023.
The broadcaster added that authorities initially suspended the arrival of additional US tanker aircraft at Ben Gurion Airport because of congestion before reversing the decision following discussions with Washington.
Under the revised arrangement, some of the aircraft are expected to be deployed to “Israeli” military bases instead.
The reported redeployment comes as Iranian armed forces continue carrying out retaliatory attacks against what they describe as strategic American targets across the region following earlier US strikes on several locations in southern Iran.
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