America intends to send dozens of additional refueling aircraft to Israel in anticipation of a potential escalation

Translation by SadaNews - Three American and Israeli officials told Axios that the Trump administration has informed Israel it will send dozens of additional refueling aircraft to Tel Aviv ahead of a potential expansion of military operations against Iran.

Axios added, according to SadaNews translation, "After several new military plans were presented to him in an operations room meeting on Tuesday, President Trump is considering launching a wide-scale attack on Iran that would be broader than the current strikes around the Strait of Hormuz."

Among the options being considered are bombing Iranian infrastructure facilities such as power stations, launching more attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities to bury Iranian enriched uranium deeper, and bombing the Mount Afs site which is suspected to be an under-construction facility.

Trump has not yet made a final decision, but he seems prepared to escalate the war to inflict sufficient damage that would compel the Iranian regime to open the Strait of Hormuz and accept Trump's nuclear demands.

American and Israeli officials stated that Trump may order an escalation of strikes on Iran in the coming days.
On Thursday, the U.S. military struck Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz and southern Iran for the fifth consecutive day.

An American official stated that the U.S. military bombed at least seven bridges around the city of Bandar Abbas, which is considered a center for the operations of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in the Strait of Hormuz.

The official noted that ammunition, supplies, and reinforcements are passing through Bandar Abbas to other parts of the strait.

Iran has also escalated its attacks targeting U.S. bases in Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Iraq, and Kuwait. The Iranian Revolutionary Guard also claimed to have attacked a U.S. base in Syria, despite U.S. forces having withdrawn from that base several months ago.

The United States currently has about 30 military refueling aircraft at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, and approximately the same number at Ramon Airport in southern Israel.

Israeli officials indicated that the United States wants to send dozens of additional refueling aircraft in the coming days, bringing the total to the same level it was at the beginning of the war.

Israeli officials added that the U.S. military prefers to operate the refueling aircraft from Ben Gurion Airport, as other airbases in the region are more vulnerable to Iranian attacks and less secure for U.S. aircraft.

For now, the Iranians remain hesitant to launch attacks on Israel, as this would likely lead to a massive retaliatory response.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu stated in a speech on Tuesday: "I can tell you only one thing, and I say it to the leaders of Iran: Don’t think that your attack on us will silence you. Don’t think it will be repeated. Because it will not be a repetition, and this attack was strong enough. This will be a different event, and much more powerful."

The presence of U.S. military refueling aircraft has become a hot political issue in Israel.

Dozens of refueling aircraft, which have been stationed at Ben Gurion Airport for months, have caused near-complete congestion at the airport.

This was not an issue at the height of the war when Israeli airspace was mostly closed and many airlines ceased flights to Tel Aviv.

However, with the airspace now opened and Israelis going on their summer vacations, the operation of additional U.S. refueling aircraft from the airport could lead to mass flight cancellations.

With three months to go before elections, this could be extremely damaging to Netanyahu’s coalition.

Israeli Transportation Minister Miri Regev, a close ally of Netanyahu, has pushed for the transfer of U.S. refueling aircraft from Ben Gurion International Airport, or at least to limit their numbers. The Israeli Ministry of Defense opposed this proposal.

The Trump administration has requested that the Israeli government accommodate the additional refueling aircraft. Netanyahu will have the final say on this matter.