'Israel' approves buying 25 F-35 fighter jets using $3bn of US funds

By Al Mayadeen English
Source: Agencies
2 Jul 2023 15:10
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The deal to purchase 25 F-35 jets, expected to be signed in the coming months, will expand the Israeli air force F-35 fleet of aircraft to 75.

An Israeli air force F-35 warplane flies over during a graduation ceremony for new pilots in "Hatzerim" base near the southern occupied city of Beer al-Sabe, occupied Palestine, Thursday, June 29, 2023 (AP Photo)

The Israeli security ministry announced on Sunday that "Israel" has approved the purchase of a third squadron of stealth F-35 fighter jets built by Lockheed Martin in a $3 billion contract.

"Israel" is the only player in the region that possesses F-35s, one of the world's most modern fighters, capable of gathering intelligence, striking deep into neighboring territory, and aiding it in its ongoing illegal strikes and aggression against neighboring states and Palestine.

The deal to purchase 25 F-35 jets, expected to be signed in the coming months, will expand the Israeli air force F-35 fleet of aircraft to 75, a ministry statement said.

It will be financed through United States military aid funds received by "Israel." "This new agreement will ensure the continuation of cooperation between American companies and Israeli defense industries in the production of aircraft parts," the statement said.

The Israeli occupation said it had become the only army to ever use F-35s in combat.

While the occupation supplies its army with new fighter jets, it is worth highlighting that it is still engaging in ongoing attacks on Syrian territory.

Earlier on Saturday, July 1, Syrian air defense systems repelled an attack in the Homs Governorate in central Syria, the Syrian SANA state news agency reports.

The air defense responded to enemy targets over the northern part of the province of Homs, SANA said late on Saturday night.

The Israeli forces announced on Sunday that they have struck an air defense battery and other targets in Syria, claiming it was in response to an anti-air missile that was launched from Syria and landed in occupied Palestine.

The missile itself, being an anti-air missile, was most probably launched to engage targets during earlier air aggression that happened before the second announced Israeli strike.

Earlier this week, the Syrian Ministry of Defense confirmed that its army destroyed militant headquarters in cooperation with the Russian Air Force, leaving casualties among the armed militants.

Al Mayadeen's correspondent reported on June 24 that the Syrian army's artillery continued to target militants, their fortifications, and weapons depots in Idlib's countryside.

A site belonging to the armed groups in the Idlib countryside was targeted by the joint air strikes of the Syrian and Russian forces according to SANA.

According to the Syrian Defense Ministry, warehouses of militants in the countryside were targeted, and drone launching sites were also destroyed.

Last year, the Israeli occupation Air Force said in December that it intended to ground 11 F-35 fighter jets.

The decision came after an F-35 type B belonging to the United States Air Force crashed the same month in Texas.

The Israeli occupation military noted that this decision comes following data collected from the Texas crash that might indicate a malfunction in the fighter jet, which "Israel" will inspect to find out if its F-35 fleet is also similarly flawed.