The US said Tuesday that it was halting the planned removal of its aerial refueling tankers from Ben Gurion Airport amid the mounting escalation with Iran, prompting Israel to warn that it would cap the number of such planes allowed to stay there in order to avert disruptions of commercial flight operations.

“Hundreds of thousands of tickets were bought by Israelis to fly and enjoy their summer vacation,” said Transportation Minister Miri Regev. “We promised that we will enable commercial flights and we will not cancel a single ticket because of American refueling planes.”

“Therefore, I have given instructions that we will not allow any US refueling tankers to land at Ben Gurion Airport beyond the agreed number of 20 planes, and the remaining planes can land at Israeli Air Force bases,” Regev added.

It is feared that the US move, leaving refuelers at the airport to take up space that would otherwise be occupied by civilian planes, will lead to flight cancellations for tens of thousands of passengers during the peak summer travel season of July and August.

Early Tuesday morning, the US launched fresh strikes on Iran, hours after President Donald Trump said Washington was “reinstating” a blockade on Iran in the Strait of Hormuz. Iran responded with attacks targeting Bahrain, Jordan and two tankers associated with the United Arab Emirates traveling........

© The Times of Israel