Axios: US Expands Military Support to Israel Amid Potential Wider Conflict with Iran

ERBIL (Kurdistan24) - The Trump administration has notified Israel that it is sending dozens of additional military refueling aircraft to the country as President Donald Trump weighs a significant expansion of US military operations against Iran, according to a report by Axios citing three US and Israeli officials.

The report said the decision comes after Trump reviewed several new military options during a Situation Room meeting on Tuesday. Among the proposals under consideration is a broader military campaign that would extend beyond the current strikes around the Strait of Hormuz.

According to Axios, the options presented to Trump include strikes on Iranian infrastructure such as power plants, additional attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities aimed at burying enriched uranium deeper underground, and a possible strike on the underground Pickaxe Mountain site, which US officials reportedly suspect is being developed as a nuclear-related facility.

The report said Trump has not yet made a final decision but appears willing to escalate military operations in an effort to pressure Iran into reopening the Strait of Hormuz and accepting US demands regarding its nuclear program.

US and Israeli officials told Axios that such an escalation could be ordered within the coming days.

Axios reported that US forces carried out attacks on Iranian targets around the Strait of Hormuz and along Iran's southern coastline for a fifth consecutive day on Thursday.

A US official told the outlet that American forces struck at least seven bridges around Bandar Abbas, describing the city as a key logistics hub for Iran's Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps operations in the Strait of Hormuz. The official said the bridges are used to transport ammunition, supplies, and reinforcements across the strategic waterway.

The report also said Iran intensified attacks targeting US military bases in Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Iraq, and Kuwait. It added that the Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps claimed responsibility for an attack on a US base in Syria, although Axios noted that American forces had withdrawn from that base several months earlier.

According to Axios, the United States currently operates around 30 military refueling aircraft at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv and a similar number at Ramon Airport in southern Israel.

Israeli officials told the outlet that Washington plans to send several dozen more aircraft in the coming days, restoring the refueling fleet to roughly the level maintained at the beginning of the conflict.

The report said the US military prefers operating the aircraft from Ben Gurion Airport because alternative regional air bases are considered more vulnerable to potential Iranian attacks.

Axios also reported that Israeli officials believe Iran has so far refrained from attacking Israel directly because such a move would likely trigger a much larger military response.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu warned Tehran earlier this week, saying: "I can tell you only one thing, and I will say this to the leaders of Iran: Do not count on it being quiet if you attack us. Do not count on a rerun. Because it will not be a rerun... This will be a different event, much more powerful."

The growing presence of US refueling aircraft has also become a political issue inside Israel, Axios reported.

The outlet said dozens of military aircraft stationed at Ben Gurion Airport have significantly reduced airport capacity. While this posed little problem when Israeli airspace was largely closed earlier in the conflict, commercial air traffic has since resumed, with many Israelis traveling during the summer holiday season.

According to Axios, Israeli Transportation Minister Miri Regev urged that the US aircraft be relocated from Ben Gurion Airport or that their numbers be reduced. However, Israel's Defense Ministry and the Israel Defense Forces opposed the proposal.

The report added that the Trump administration has formally asked the Israeli government to accommodate the additional refueling aircraft, with the final decision resting with Prime Minister Netanyahu.