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US Bolsters Military Options for Trump with Refueling Aircraft, Officials Say

An Israeli F-15 fighter jet is refuels in the air above Netanya on June 15, 2025. (AFP)
An Israeli F-15 fighter jet is refuels in the air above Netanya on June 15, 2025. (AFP)
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US Bolsters Military Options for Trump with Refueling Aircraft, Officials Say

An Israeli F-15 fighter jet is refuels in the air above Netanya on June 15, 2025. (AFP)
An Israeli F-15 fighter jet is refuels in the air above Netanya on June 15, 2025. (AFP)

The US military has moved a large number of refueling aircraft to Europe to provide options to President Donald Trump as Middle East tensions soar, two US officials told Reuters on Monday, speaking on condition of anonymity.

AirNav systems, a flight tracking website, said that on Sunday evening more than 31 US Air Force refueling aircraft -- primarily KC-135s and KC-45s -- left the United States, heading east.

The officials declined to comment on the number of aircraft but said the US aircraft carrier Nimitz was heading to the Middle East, in what one of them said was a pre-planned deployment. The Nimitz can hold 5,000 personnel and more than 60 aircraft, including fighter jets.

Taken together, the deployments suggest the United States is greatly strengthening its air power for potentially sustained operations as Iran and Israel trade blows, in unprecedented open warfare that is seeing civilian casualties mount on both sides.

"The sudden eastward deployment of over two dozen US Air Force tankers is not business as usual. It’s a clear signal of strategic readiness," said Eric Schouten at Dyami Security Intelligence.

"Whether it’s about supporting Israel, preparing for long-range operations, logistics is key, this move shows the US is positioning itself for rapid escalation if tensions with Iran spill over."

The United States has been cautious so far, helping Israel knock down incoming missiles. But Trump vetoed an Israeli plan in recent days to kill Iran's Supreme Leader Ali Khamenei, two US officials told Reuters on Sunday.

One of them said the United States did not support going after Iran's political leadership as long as Americans weren't being targeted.

A third US official, speaking on condition of anonymity, declined to comment on the tanker movement but stressed that US military activities in the region were defensive in nature.

The Pentagon referred Reuters to the White House, which did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

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World

Belgium Joins South Africa’s Genocide Case Against Israel

A general view of destroyed houses in Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip on December 19, 2025. (AFP)
A general view of destroyed houses in Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip on December 19, 2025. (AFP)
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Belgium Joins South Africa’s Genocide Case Against Israel

A general view of destroyed houses in Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip on December 19, 2025. (AFP)
A general view of destroyed houses in Nuseirat camp in the central Gaza Strip on December 19, 2025. (AFP)

Belgium on Tuesday joined South Africa in a case brought before the International Court of Justice (ICJ), which accuses Israel of committing genocide in the Gaza Strip.

The UN's highest court, based in The Hague, said in a statement that Brussels had filed a declaration of intervention.

Several countries including Brazil, Colombia, Ireland, Mexico, Spain and Türkiye have already joined the case.

In December 2023, South Africa brought a case to the United Nations' highest court in The Hague, alleging Israel's Gaza offensive breached the 1948 UN Convention on the Prevention and Punishment of the Crime of Genocide.

Israel denies the accusation.

In rulings in January, March and May 2024, the ICJ told Israel to do everything possible to prevent acts of genocide in Gaza, including by providing urgently needed humanitarian aid to prevent famine.

These orders are legally binding, but the court has no concrete means to enforce them.

Israel has criticized the proceedings and rejected the accusations.

Hamas's October 7, 2023 attack resulted in the deaths of 1,221 people on the Israeli side, mostly civilians, according to an AFP tally based on official Israeli figures.

The Israeli military's retaliatory campaign has since killed 70,369 Palestinians, also mostly civilians, according to Gaza's health ministry, whose figures are considered reliable by the UN. The campaign has also displaced the majority of the 2.2 million people in the Palestinian territory.

Belgium was among a string of countries to recognize the State of Palestine in September, a status acknowledged by nearly 80 precent of UN members.

World

Ex-Aide Says Netanyahu Tasked Him with Making a Plan to Evade Responsibility for Oct. 7 Attack

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a joint press conference with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (not pictured) after a trilateral meeting at the Citadel of David Hotel, in Jerusalem, December 22, 2025. (Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a joint press conference with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (not pictured) after a trilateral meeting at the Citadel of David Hotel, in Jerusalem, December 22, 2025. (Reuters)
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Ex-Aide Says Netanyahu Tasked Him with Making a Plan to Evade Responsibility for Oct. 7 Attack

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a joint press conference with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (not pictured) after a trilateral meeting at the Citadel of David Hotel, in Jerusalem, December 22, 2025. (Reuters)
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu speaks during a joint press conference with Cypriot President Nikos Christodoulides and Greek Prime Minister Kyriakos Mitsotakis (not pictured) after a trilateral meeting at the Citadel of David Hotel, in Jerusalem, December 22, 2025. (Reuters)

A former close aide to Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu says that immediately following the October 2023 Hamas attack that triggered Israel’s two-year war in Gaza, the Israeli leader instructed him to figure out how the premier could evade responsibility for the security breach.

Former Netanyahu spokesperson Eli Feldstein, who faces trial for allegedly leaking classified information to the press, made the explosive accusation during an extensive interview with Israel’s Kan news channel Monday night.

Critics have repeatedly accused Netanyahu of refusing to accept blame for the deadliest attack in Israel’s history. But little is known about Netanyahu’s behavior in the days immediately following the attack, while the premier has consistently resisted an independent state inquiry.

Speaking to Kan, Feldstein said “the first task” he received from Netanyahu after Oct. 7, 2023, was to stifle calls for accountability.

“He asked me, ‘What are they talking about in the news? Are they still talking about responsibility?’” Feldstein said. “He wanted me to think of something that could be said that would offset the media storm surrounding the question of whether the prime minister had taken responsibility or not.”

He added that Netanyahu looked “panicked” when he made the request. Feldstein said he was later told by people in Netanyahu's close circle to omit the word “responsibility” from all statements.

On Oct. 7, 2023, Hamas-led fighters killed some 1,200 people in southern Israel and took 251 hostages back to Gaza. Israel then launched a devastating war in Gaza that has killed nearly 71,000 Palestinians in Gaza, according to Gaza’s Health Ministry, which does not differentiate between civilians and combatants but says around half the deaths were women and children.

Netanyahu’s office called the interview a “long series of mendacious and recycled allegations made by a man with clear personal interests who is trying to deflect responsibility from himself,” Hebrew media reported.

Feldstein’s statements come after his indictment in a case where he is accused of leaking classified military information to a German tabloid to improve public perception of the prime minister following the killing of six hostages in Gaza in August of last year.

World

Ukraine Says Withdrawn Troops from Eastern Town of Siversk

Ukrainian communal workers clean debris at the site of a Russian drone strike on a five-story residential building in Kyiv, Ukraine, 23 December 2025. (EPA)
Ukrainian communal workers clean debris at the site of a Russian drone strike on a five-story residential building in Kyiv, Ukraine, 23 December 2025. (EPA)
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Ukraine Says Withdrawn Troops from Eastern Town of Siversk

Ukrainian communal workers clean debris at the site of a Russian drone strike on a five-story residential building in Kyiv, Ukraine, 23 December 2025. (EPA)
Ukrainian communal workers clean debris at the site of a Russian drone strike on a five-story residential building in Kyiv, Ukraine, 23 December 2025. (EPA)

Ukrainian troops have withdrawn from the eastern town of Siversk, the General Staff said Tuesday, as Russia doubled down on its recent advances across the lengthy front line.

Russia announced the capture of the city in the heavily embattled Donetsk region almost two weeks ago, when Chief of Staff Valery Gerasimov reported the gain to President Vladimir Putin in a televised meeting.

The Ukrainian army said that "to preserve the lives of our soldiers and the combat capability of our units, Ukrainian defenders have withdrawn from the settlement".

The Russians were helped by "a significant advantage in manpower and equipment" and weather conditions, it added.

The Ukrainian army was still fighting in Siversk's surroundings, and the city remains within the reach of Ukraine's fire, according to Kyiv's General Staff.

The Russian army has been slowly but steadily grinding through eastern Ukraine and taking ground from outnumbered and outgunned Ukrainian forces, with some of the fiercest battles taking place in Donetsk.

Putin, emboldened by recent gains, threatened at his year-end press conference last week to take more territory.

The Donetsk region is the key stumbling block in the US-led settlement talks and Ukraine says it is under pressure to cede the remaining part of the region to Russia.

Siversk is located about 30 kilometers (18 miles) east of Kramatorsk and Sloviansk, the last two major cities still under Ukrainian control in Donetsk -- an industrial and mining region in Moscow's sights.

The town was home to around 11,000 people before the war.

Eastern Ukraine has been ravaged since Russia launched its assault in February 2022, with tens of thousands of people killed and millions forced to flee their homes.