Why is the US sending dozens more refueling planes to Israel

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Why is the US sending dozens more refueling planes to Israel

The US currently has roughly 30 refueling planes stationed at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv and a similar number at Ramon Airport in southern Israel.

3 min readJul 18, 2026 07:00 AM IST

First published on: Jul 18, 2026 at 07:00 AM IST

US President Donald Trump said Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. (File Photo)

The Trump administration has told Israel it’s sending dozens more refueling planes into the country as the president weighs a broader military escalation against Iran, as reported by Axios.

Trump was briefed on several new military options during a Situation Room meeting Tuesday and is now considering an offensive against Iran far larger in scope than the ongoing strikes around the Strait of Hormuz. He hasn’t made a final call, but officials say he appears ready to escalate enough to force Tehran to reopen the strait and accept his nuclear demands with a decision possible within days.

What options are on the table

Among the plans under consideration: bombing Iranian infrastructure such as power plants, further strikes on Iran’s nuclear sites aimed at burying its enriched uranium stockpile deeper underground, and a possible strike on the Pickaxe Mountain site, which is suspected of being built into a nuclear-related facility.

What’s happening on the ground now

The US carried out strikes for a fifth consecutive day Thursday against targets in the Strait of Hormuz and along Iran’s southern coast, hitting at least seven bridges near Bandar Abbas a hub for Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps logistics feeding ammunition, supplies, and reinforcements through the strait.

Iran, in turn, escalated its own attacks on US bases in Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Iraq, and Kuwait, and the IRGC claimed a strike on a US base in Syria despite American troops having withdrawn from that base months earlier.

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How many planes are involved

The US currently has roughly 30 refueling planes stationed at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv and a similar number at Ramon Airport in southern Israel.

Officials say Washington wants to add several dozen more in the coming days, restoring the fleet to levels seen at the war’s outset. The Pentagon reportedly prefers basing the planes at Ben Gurion because other regional airfields are considered more exposed to Iranian attack.

For now, Iran appears deterred from striking Israel directly, given the likelihood of a heavy response.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Tuesday that any future Iranian attack on Israel would provoke a far more forceful reply than in the past.

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Why are the planes controversial in Israel

The refueling aircraft have become a domestic political flashpoint. Their presence at Ben Gurion wasn’t a major issue when Israeli airspace was largely closed during the height of the war, but with the airspace reopened and summer travel underway, more parked refueling planes risk mass flight cancellations a politically sensitive prospect just three months before an Israeli election.

Transportation Minister Miri Regev, a Netanyahu ally, has pushed to relocate or limit the planes at Ben Gurion, a move the Defense Ministry and IDF have resisted. Washington has asked Israel to accommodate the expanded fleet, and Netanyahu is expected to make the final call.

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