The Transportation Ministry said Friday that it reached an understanding with the US military to accelerate the departure of dozens of US military jets that were clogging up Ben Gurion Airport and threatening the cancellation of tens of thousands of flights.

A fleet of about 75 US refuelers and cargo jets has parked at the Tel Aviv-area airport since the lead-up to the Iran war, leaving very little room for civilian planes.

The US and Israel launched the war on February 28, and the fighting entered a truce on April 8, with US-Iran peace talks underway following a memorandum of understanding reached last week.

The Ynet news site reported Friday that under the Transportation Ministry’s agreement with the US military, 30 jets will move to Israeli Air Force bases by Tuesday and another 20 will move at a later date, but the jets will be able to return within some 72 hours in case of an escalation.

Fifteen US jets have already left  Ben Gurion since June 15, Ynet said.

Israel Airports Authority head Sharon Kedmi had said in an urgent letter this week to Transportation Minister Miri Regev that the continued US military presence at Ben Gurion threatened to disrupt the flights of 100,000 passengers in the peak summer season starting in........

© The Times of Israel