Israel receives 3 more F-35 fighter jets, boosting fleet to 45

Israel received three more F-35 fighter jets on Thursday, bringing its total fleet of the advanced stealth aircraft to 45, the Israeli army announced on Friday.

According to Avichay Adraee, spokesperson for the Israeli army, the new jets landed at Nevatim Airbase in southern Israel and will be integrated into the 140th Squadron of the Israeli Air Force.

“Since the beginning of the war, F-35 jets have been operating at an unprecedented pace,” Adraee said in a statement.

Israeli public broadcaster KAN reported that the country is the first in the world to select the F-35 through a foreign military sales deal with the US government, having signed a letter of agreement in October 2010.

So far, Israel has signed contracts for a total of 75 F-35 jets, manufactured by Lockheed Martin.

Israel remains the only country in the Middle East with access to the fifth-generation stealth fighter, which is considered among the most advanced combat aircraft in the world.

Nearly 51,400 Palestinians have been killed in Gaza in a brutal Israeli onslaught since October 2023, most of them women and children.

The International Criminal Court issued arrest warrants last November for Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and his former Defense Minister Yoav Gallant for war crimes and crimes against humanity in Gaza.

Israel also faces a genocide case at the International Court of Justice for its war on the enclave.