JERUSALEM/BEIRUT – The United States deployed more military assets to Israel’s main airport and evacuated its diplomats from Lebanon on Monday, signaling a potential escalation with Iran just days before the two sides are set to resume nuclear talks.
US aerial refueling tankers and C-17 Globemaster heavy transport aircraft have landed at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport over the past 24 hours as part of a U.S. military buildup in the region, Israel’s public broadcaster Kan reported on Monday.
Photos showed the aircraft stationed at the airport outside Tel Aviv, Israel’s main international gateway.
The deployment is part of broader U.S. preparations for a potential strike against Iran, the broadcaster said. The deployment comes amid rising tensions between Washington and Tehran, with the U.S. strengthening its regional presence by sending additional fighter jets, aircraft carriers, and support assets.
U.S. officials have said that all options remain on the table should diplomacy fail to resolve disputes over Iran’s nuclear and missile programs, while Iran has warned it would retaliate against U.S. and Israeli targets if attacked.
In a related development, the U.S. Embassy in Lebanon evacuated dozens of its staff members through Beirut’s airport on Monday, Lebanese media reported.
The Lebanese Broadcasting Corporation International (LBCI) described the move as a preventive measure in anticipation of potential regional escalation.
Israeli media reported that as part of the United States’ massive buildup of military forces in the Middle East, American refueler and cargo planes are spotted at Israel’s Ben Gurion Airport. The tankers and cargo planes arrived at Ben Gurion in the past day. There is no comment from Israeli authorities regarding the American military deployment at Israel’s main civilian airport, and it is unclear if the planes are here temporarily as part of a stopover.
According to the Military Air Tracking Alliance, a team of about 30 open-source analysts that routinely analyzes military and government flight activity, more than 85 fuel tankers and over 170 cargo planes have headed into the region since mid-February, as US President Donald Trump considers whether to take possible military action against Iran.
Israel has never been stronger than it is now, says Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu during a speech to the Knesset plenum.
“The pact with the United States has never been closer,” declares Netanyahu, speaking at a “40-signatures” debate in the Knesset.
In a possible message to Iran, he stresses that the personal ties between himself and US President Donald Trump, and between the IDF and the US military, have also never been better.
At the same time, he says, “we are in very complex and challenging times.”
If the Iranian regime “makes perhaps the most serious mistake in its history,” he warns, “and attacks Israel, we will respond with strength that it can’t even imagine.”
Iran’s deputy foreign minister Kazem Gharibabadi warns of the risk of a wider escalation if his country is attacked, after US President Donald Trump has raised the threat of strikes.
“We call upon all nations committed to peace and justice to take meaningful steps to prevent further escalation. The consequences of any renewed aggression wouldn’t remain confined to one country and responsibility would rest with those who initiate or support such actions,” Gharibabadi says at the Conference on Disarmament in Geneva.
