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Report: US Sending Dozens of Refueling Planes to Israel

A US A-10 aircraft prepares for in-flight refueling during operations (US Central Command)
A US A-10 aircraft prepares for in-flight refueling during operations (US Central Command)
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Report: US Sending Dozens of Refueling Planes to Israel

A US A-10 aircraft prepares for in-flight refueling during operations (US Central Command)
A US A-10 aircraft prepares for in-flight refueling during operations (US Central Command)

The Trump administration notified Israel it is sending dozens more refueling planes to the country ahead of a potential expansion of military operations against Iran, three US and Israeli officials told Axios on Friday.

The officials said US President Donald Trump could order an escalation in the coming days.
Trump was presented with several new military plans in a Situation Room meeting on Tuesday.

Among the options being considered are bombing Iranian infrastructure facilities like power plants, conducting more attacks on Iran's nuclear facilities in order to bury Iran's enriched uranium even deeper, and bombing the Pickaxe Mountain underground site that is suspected to be a facility in the making, according to Axios.

On Thursday, the US military conducted strikes against Iranian targets in the Strait of Hormuz and the southern coast of Iran for the fifth day in a row.

A US official said the military bombed at least seven bridges around the city of Bandar Abbas, which is considered a hub for the Iranian Revolutionary Guard Corps (IRGC) operations in the Strait of Hormuz.

Ammunition, supplies and reinforcements go through Bandar Abbas to other parts of the strait, he said.

Iran also escalated attacks targeting US bases in Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Iraq and Kuwait. The IRGC also claimed it attacked an American base in Syria, although US troops withdrew from the base several months ago.

The US currently has about 30 military refueling planes at Ben Gurion International Airport near Tel Aviv and around the same number in Ramon Airport in southern Israel.

Israeli officials say the US military prefers operating the refueling planes from Ben Gurion Airport, because other air bases in the region are more exposed to Iranian attacks and less safe for US planes.

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World

Turkish F-16 Crashes After Pilot Ejects Safely

Six months ago, another Turkish F-16 fighter jet crashed, killing the pilot, shortly after takeoff during an alert-response mission near the Bulgarian border. (AFP file)
Six months ago, another Turkish F-16 fighter jet crashed, killing the pilot, shortly after takeoff during an alert-response mission near the Bulgarian border. (AFP file)
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Turkish F-16 Crashes After Pilot Ejects Safely

Six months ago, another Turkish F-16 fighter jet crashed, killing the pilot, shortly after takeoff during an alert-response mission near the Bulgarian border. (AFP file)
Six months ago, another Turkish F-16 fighter jet crashed, killing the pilot, shortly after takeoff during an alert-response mission near the Bulgarian border. (AFP file)

A F-16 fighter jet crashed during a training exercise in northwestern Türkiye on Wednesday but no-one was hurt, the pilot ejecting to safety, the defense ministry said.

"An F-16 aircraft belonging to our air force was involved in an accident during a training flight in Yalova, and our pilot survived by ejecting," a statement said, pledging a thorough investigation.

Yalova lies southeast of Istanbul on the shores of the Sea of Marmara.

CCTV footage broadcast by IHA news agency showed a plane hurtling through the air at a very low altitude before disappearing behind some trees, sending up a cloud of thick black smoke as it crashed.

According to the private NTV channel, the plane crashed near an air base, with several teams of rescuers dispatched to the scene. It said the pilot had been taken to hospital.

Six months ago, another Turkish F-16 fighter jet crashed, killing the pilot, shortly after takeoff during an alert-response mission near the Bulgarian border.

In November, Türkiye suspended flights by its C-130 cargo planes after one crashed in Georgia while returning from Azerbaijan, killing all 20 on board.

World

More Than 25 Countries Condemn in ‘Strongest Terms’ Iran Executions

People walk in the Grand Bazaar in Tehran, Iran, August 11, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
People walk in the Grand Bazaar in Tehran, Iran, August 11, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
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More Than 25 Countries Condemn in ‘Strongest Terms’ Iran Executions

People walk in the Grand Bazaar in Tehran, Iran, August 11, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters
People walk in the Grand Bazaar in Tehran, Iran, August 11, 2026. Majid Asgaripour/WANA (West Asia News Agency) via Reuters

More than 25 nations, including France, the UK and Canada, on Wednesday condemned the use of capital punishment by Iranian authorities, saying in a joint statement Tehran was executing protesters to "silence dissent".

The countries, joined by the European Union's top diplomat, "condemn in the strongest terms the ongoing executions of protesters and use of the death penalty" by Iran.

"The use of capital punishment to silence dissent, intimidate communities, and punish individuals exercising their human rights can never be justified," the statement said.

"The people of Iran must be free to exercise their rights to freedom of expression and peaceful assembly without fear."

Australia, New Zealand, Ireland, Germany and other European nations also joined the statement calling for Iran "to immediately end the use of the death penalty and release all those arbitrarily detained".

The statement joins growing alarm from the United Nations and rights groups over a surge in executions in recent months, after Iran was rocked by nationwide anti-government protests earlier in the year and the start of the Middle East war in February.

Earlier in August UN rights chief Volker Turk said the death penalty was being used by Tehran to "instill fear".

According to the UN, since March 19, at least 56 people have been executed on national security-related charges, including 27 people in cases linked to the protests.

More than 100 others are at risk of being put to death on similar charges, Turk said.

The UN and rights groups have warned of a lack of fair trials and forced confessions.

In late December last year, a protest movement initially sparked by the high cost of living exploded into widespread anti-government demonstrations.

Iranian authorities reported more than 3,000 deaths, but attributed the violence to "terrorist acts" orchestrated by the United States and Israel.

Rights groups based abroad recorded a far higher toll and said the security forces had fired on demonstrators.

The United States and Israel launched a joint attack on the country weeks later, on February 28, triggering the Middle East war.

Since then, arrests and executions have multiplied in the country, linked to both the conflict and the protests.

Last year, Iran put to death over 2,150 people, according to Amnesty International, making it again by a huge margin the world's most prolific executioner after China.

World

Trump Says US Will ‘Keep’ Hormuz Strait Control

President Donald Trump talks to reporters after arriving on Air Force One Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. (AP)
President Donald Trump talks to reporters after arriving on Air Force One Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. (AP)
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Trump Says US Will ‘Keep’ Hormuz Strait Control

President Donald Trump talks to reporters after arriving on Air Force One Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. (AP)
President Donald Trump talks to reporters after arriving on Air Force One Tuesday, Aug. 11, 2026, at Joint Base Andrews, Md. (AP)

President Donald Trump on Wednesday said the United States is in control of the strategic Strait of Hormuz and will "keep it."

"The U.S.A. has total control over the Strait of Hormuz. I THINK WE WILL KEEP IT!" Trump wrote on his Truth Social platform. "Our Naval Blockade is being called, by everyone, 'A WALL OF STEEL,' and there is nothing Iran can do about it."

Trump has repeatedly claimed the United States controls the strait, which is vital for the flow of energy and other commodity shipping through the Middle East.

However, Iran says it effectively controls much of the waterway and intends to impose a toll system in response to the US war launched by Trump on February 28.

Late Tuesday, Trump told reporters: "We have total control over the Hormuz Strait right now. They don't have control. We have total control. We own it."

US and Israeli forces have heavily bombed Iran's military and killed a swath of the country's leadership so far in the nearly six-month war, launched initially with goals including forcing Tehran to abandon its nuclear power program and regime change.

Iran has resisted with missile attacks on US bases in the region, Israel and targets in Gulf countries.

Its most effective response has been to strike shipping in Hormuz, effectively snarling the trade route, rattling the world economy.

With his political popularity sinking at home ahead of the November midterm congressional elections, Trump has backed off threats to escalate the war in search of a decisive victory.

That leaves the war in a standoff.

However, the Republican says that the United States is prepared to focus on blockading Iranian ports in a strategy that he told Axios was "low-keying."

"We are only semi-negotiating with them. We are just watching Iran with its huge inflation and the fact they have no money," Trump told Axios on Sunday.