US Warplanes Land in Israel as Trump Weighs Fresh Iran Strikes

TEL AVIV — Ten United States Air Force transport aircraft have landed at Israeli air bases in the southern Negev as Washington and Tel Aviv step up preparations for a possible new military campaign against Iran, Israeli public broadcaster KAN reported on Thursday. The aircraft, which KAN said departed from Fort Bliss in Texas, landed at the Ovda and Nevatim air bases, while additional American military planes were sent to bases in Jordan, Saudi Arabia and Qatar. KAN suggested the flights may be replenishing air-defence interceptors, including THAAD and Patriot stocks, but Washington has not confirmed the movements, the cargo has not been disclosed, and no decision to launch fresh strikes has been announced.

The airlift follows a White House briefing on Thursday in which the top United States commander in the Middle East, Adm. Brad Cooper, who heads Central Command, presented President Donald Trump with military options for Iran, according to a Wall Street Journal report citing American officials and people familiar with the meeting. Defence Secretary Pete Hegseth, Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Dan Caine and other Cabinet members attended the session, which also covered the continuing United States blockade, a day after senior military officers met Vice President JD Vance. Cooper rarely briefs the president in person, a fact the Journal's sources read as a sign Washington is moving closer to significant military operations, and officials have told Gulf states to prepare for a short, intense campaign after the November 3 midterm elections. Trump raised the prospect at a rally last week, saying of a repeat of the spring bombing campaign: "We may do another little Epic Fury." The account is the latest turn in the standoff with Tehran, which has warned publicly and in private diplomatic channels that it would strike a broad array of United States and Gulf targets in response to any new attack.

Diplomacy is running alongside the military preparations. Iranian outlets Tasnim and Fars reported that Tehran received a letter from Vance addressed to security chief Mohsen Rezaei but has not responded, while Iranian Parliament Speaker Mohammad Bagher Ghalibaf said on Thursday that Washington's "carrot-and-stick approach" would fail and that progress depends on acceptance of Iran's seven conditions. Trump has separately described the outreach as concerning medical supplies to Iran rather than a bid to restart negotiations. A Pentagon spokesperson and a Central Command spokesperson both declined to comment on the briefing, and the report stresses that no decision to launch a new campaign has been confirmed. Follow our Hormuz crisis live coverage and the Middle East desk for updates as the situation develops.