ISTANBUL — Khalid Yousef, Anadolu

Hebrew media reported Saturday that Israel and the United States have agreed to receive more US refueling planes at Israeli Air Force bases, instead of Ben Gurion Airport where they previously landed.

The Hebrew newspaper 'Israel Hayom' said the two sides reached an understanding to receive a new batch of US refueling planes inside Israeli military bases.

For its part, the Hebrew newspaper 'Yedioth Ahronoth' explained that the decision was made for operational and logistical reasons, and to reduce the impact on civil aviation traffic, so that US military planes would be received at Israeli Air Force bases instead of Ben Gurion Airport.

In the same context, Israeli journalist Itai Blumenthal said in a post on the American platform X that the Israeli army confirmed that receiving the planes at military bases became possible thanks to prior preparations and coordination with the American side.

The journalist, a writer for the official broadcasting authority, pointed to coordination between the Israeli and American sides regarding the reception of US refueling planes at military bases.

Israeli or American authorities did not immediately comment on this.

In the same context, the Hebrew newspaper 'Yedioth Ahronoth' reported Friday that about 10 US refueling planes are expected to arrive in Israel within the next two days, joining dozens of planes that arrived earlier, as part of accelerating the deployment of US forces in the region.

Days earlier, the newspaper reported that 33 US refueling planes were parked at the airport, occupying space also used by civilian planes.

It noted that Israel and the United States had previously agreed to keep 20 refueling planes at the airport out of 100 planes, with Washington transferring some planes to European countries.

The broadcasting authority noted last Tuesday that 'the United States began last week to return refueling planes that had been transferred to Europe to the Middle East and Israel, against the backdrop of renewed military confrontation with Iran.'

This development comes days after a dispute between the two sides over the landing of US refueling planes at Ben Gurion Airport.

The broadcasting authority had reported last Wednesday that restrictions on the landing of US military refueling planes at Ben Gurion Airport were lifted following an American protest against those restrictions.

'Yedioth Ahronoth' also previously reported that the US Central Command (CENTCOM) objected to the Israeli army over the decision to prevent more such planes from landing at the airport.

According to the newspaper, the crisis arose after freezing a plan to vacate spaces for US refueling planes at Ben Gurion Airport in order to allocate additional spaces for civilian planes during the peak summer travel season.

On June 18, 2026, Washington and Tehran signed a memorandum of understanding that included a ceasefire, and began negotiations mediated by Pakistan and Qatar to end the aggression launched by the United States and Israel on Iran on February 28 last.

However, US President Donald Trump announced on July 8 of this month the end of the ceasefire against the backdrop of renewed escalation, after Tehran, a day earlier, attacked 3 ships while crossing the Strait of Hormuz, claiming they did not abide by the navigation path it had set, prompting Washington to launch attacks on sites inside Iran.