Trump Administration Sends More Refueling Planes to Israel Ahead of Possible Iran Escalation

According to Axios, the Trump administration notified Israel that it is sending dozens more refueling planes to the country as President Trump weighs a wider military campaign against Iran. The move comes after Trump was briefed on new war plans in a Situation Room meeting Tuesday, and U.S. and Israeli officials said he could order an escalation in the coming days. U.S. forces carried out strikes against Iranian targets in and around the Strait of Hormuz for a fifth straight day Thursday, including attacks on at least seven bridges near Bandar Abbas, while Iran stepped up attacks on U.S. bases in Jordan, Qatar, Bahrain, Iraq and Kuwait. Israeli officials said the U.S. wants to raise its number of refueling planes in Israel to roughly the level it had at the start of the war, and that Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu will have the final say on where the aircraft are based.