US refueling aircraft at Ben Gurion Airport could force cancellation of 5,000 airline tickets daily: Report

The deployment of additional US aerial refueling aircraft at Israel’s Ben Gurion International Airport could force the cancellation of around 5,000 airline tickets a day, Israel’s Channel 12 reported Monday.

The broadcaster said the estimate was presented during emergency planning discussions at the airport, where officials warned of operational and financial losses resulting from the allocation of additional parking space for US military refueling aircraft.

The report comes as Washington expands its military deployments in the region amid escalating tensions with Iran.

On Sunday, Israel’s public broadcaster KAN reported that the United States had informed Israel of plans to intensify its attacks on Iran in the coming days.

KAN also said that Washington had recently delivered additional military equipment and munitions to Israel to support US warplanes, adding that more than 10 US refueling aircraft had arrived from Europe and Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar.

Separately, the Walla news website, citing an unnamed Israeli Air Force source, reported that the US military plans to deploy around 100 refueling aircraft at Israeli military bases and Ramon Airport in southern Israel if its operations against Iran expand.

The source said 14 additional US refueling aircraft had already arrived in Israel over the weekend.

The US has escalated attacks against Iran in recent days, with Iran retaliating with strikes targeting facilities and bases it says are used by the US military in several regional countries.

The exchange of fire between the US and Iran comes despite a Pakistan-brokered memorandum of understanding they signed in June to end their war and reach a lasting peace agreement.