The Trump administration is preparing Israel for a major escalation in military operations against Iran, moving dozens of refueling aircraft to Israeli airbases as the White House considers an expanded offensive that could target nuclear facilities, power plants, and other infrastructure across the country.
According to U.S. and Israeli officials, the administration notified Israel this week of plans to send additional tanker planes in the coming days, dramatically expanding the current air refueling capacity stationed there. The U.S. military already operates roughly 60 refueling aircraft split between Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv and Ramon Airport in southern Israel. The new deployment would push those numbers back to Cold War-era levels at the start of Israel's recent military campaigns.
President Trump is weighing several military options that emerged from a Tuesday Situation Room briefing, according to three U.S. and Israeli officials. The possible strikes go far beyond current operations around the Strait of Hormuz and could include bombing Iranian nuclear enrichment sites to bury stored uranium deeper underground, targeting the suspected underground weapons facility at Pickaxe Mountain, and destroying power generation infrastructure. Trump has not made a final decision but appears open to inflicting enough damage to force Iran's leadership to reopen the Strait of Hormuz and accept his nuclear demands, officials said. An escalation could come within days.
The military pressure is already mounting. On Thursday, U.S. forces conducted their fifth consecutive day of strikes against Iranian targets, bombing at least seven bridges near Bandar Abbas, a key Revolutionary Guard Corps hub controlling ammunition and supply flows through the Strait of Hormuz. Iran responded with fresh attacks on American bases in Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Iraq, and Kuwait, while claiming strikes on a Syrian base the U.S. vacated months ago.
The refueling aircraft deployment carries political risk for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu. Parking dozens of large military planes at Ben Gurion nearly shut down the airport when the airspace was closed earlier in the war. With Israeli airspace now open and summer travel ramping up, the additional aircraft could trigger widespread flight cancellations three months before an election. Israel's transportation minister, Miri Regev, has pressed to move the tankers elsewhere or limit their numbers, but the Defense Ministry and military leadership have resisted, citing operational necessity.
Ben Gurion remains the preferred base because other regional airfields are more vulnerable to Iranian retaliation. Israeli officials say Netanyahu will make the final decision on whether to accommodate the Trump administration's request for additional aircraft.
Israel has warned Iran not to test its patience. Prime Minister Netanyahu said Tuesday that any Iranian attack would trigger a far more devastating response than previous Israeli strikes. "Do not count on it being quiet if you attack us," he said. "This will be a different event, much more powerful."
For now, Iran appears deterred by the prospect of massive Israeli retaliation, but the rapid deployment of U.S. refueling capacity suggests Washington and Jerusalem are preparing for a prolonged campaign that would require sustained air operations across the region.
Author James Rodriguez: "The refueling plane buildup is the clearest signal yet that Trump is seriously considering a strike package far bigger than what's happened so far, and Netanyahu is gambling that Congress and the courts won't block him before the real fireworks start."
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