The United States is preparing to send dozens of additional refueling planes to Israel, in a move that reflects the possibility that President Donald Trump’s administration will move to a more extensive phase of military operations against Iran, while examining options that include striking infrastructure facilities and nuclear and underground sites.
According to a report by journalist Barak Ravid on the Axios website, the Trump administration informed Israel that it will send dozens of additional refueling planes to the country, ahead of a possible expansion of military operations against Iran, as confirmed by 3 American and Israeli officials.
The report, which was accompanied by a photo of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during his meeting with Trump in 2025, indicated that the move comes after several new military plans were presented to the US President, during a meeting held on Tuesday in the Operations Room.
Trump is considering launching a large-scale attack on Iran, beyond the scope of the current strikes surrounding the Strait of Hormuz, at a time when he has not yet taken a final decision regarding escalation.
The proposed options include bombing Iranian infrastructure facilities, including power plants, and carrying out further attacks on Iranian nuclear facilities with the aim of burying enriched uranium at a greater depth, in addition to bombing the underground site at “Mount Pikax”, which is suspected of being a facility under construction.
Although Trump has not made up his mind, he seems ready to escalate the war to cause sufficient damage to the Iranian regime, prompting it to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and accept the nuclear demands put forward by the US President.
American and Israeli officials said that Trump may order an expansion of operations in the coming days.
In field developments, on Thursday, the US Army carried out strikes against Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz and on the southern coast of Iran, for the fifth day in a row.
An American official said that the American army bombed at least 7 bridges around the city of Bandar Abbas, which is the center of operations of the Iranian Revolutionary Guard in the Strait of Hormuz.
He explained that ammunition, supplies and reinforcements pass through Bandar Abbas to other parts of the strait.
On the other hand, Iran escalated its attacks targeting American bases in Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Iraq, and Kuwait, while the Iranian Revolutionary Guard announced that it attacked an American base in Syria, even though American forces had withdrawn from it several months ago.
Currently, the United States has about 30 military aircraft to refuel at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv, and about the same number at Ramon Airport in southern Israel.
Israeli officials said that Washington wants to send dozens of additional refueling planes in the coming days, bringing the number of planes to the same level as it was at the beginning of the war.
The officials added that the US military prefers to operate refueling planes from Ben Gurion Airport, because other air bases in the region are more vulnerable to Iranian attacks and less safe for US aircraft.
Until now, according to the report, Iran is still deterred from launching attacks on Israel, because any such attack would likely lead to a broad response.
“I can only say one thing to Iran’s leaders: Do not bet that things will remain calm if you attack us,” Netanyahu said in a speech on Tuesday.
He added: “Do not bet on a repetition of what happened, because what will happen will not be a repetition, and what happened previously was strong enough. This time the event will be different and much more powerful.”
On the other hand, the presence of American refueling planes has become a very sensitive political issue inside Israel.
Dozens of planes parked at Ben Gurion Airport for months caused almost complete congestion inside the airport, and this did not constitute a problem at the height of the war, when Israeli airspace was largely closed and many airlines had stopped their flights to Tel Aviv.
But as the airspace reopens and Israelis head off on their summer vacations, the arrival and operation of more American refueling planes from the airport may lead to the cancellation of large numbers of flights.
The report indicated that this matter could cause great harm to Netanyahu’s coalition, 3 months before the elections.
Israeli Transport Minister Miri Regev, who is close to Netanyahu, pressed to move American refueling planes from Ben Gurion Airport or at least limit their number, but the Ministry of Defense and the Israeli army opposed this approach.
The Trump administration asked the Israeli government to accommodate additional refueling aircraft, with the final decision in this issue resting with Netanyahu.
Thus, the movement of American aircraft does not appear to be merely logistical arrangements, but rather a field and political indication that Washington is setting the operational structure for a larger attack on Iran, while Israel is preparing to bear its military and internal consequences.
