Does Israel use its F-35s for airstrikes over the Gaza Strip?
PANAGYURISHTE, (BM) – Tensions in recent days in the Gaza Strip, intense rocket fire between the warring parties, and successful Israeli missile attacks on Hamas raise a question – is Israel using its F-35 stealth fighters to launch missiles?
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Let us remind you that Israel is still the first country in the world to use the F-35 in a combat mission already. We learned about this in May 2018, when the commander of the Israeli Air Force confirmed the assumptions.
“We are flying the F-35 all over the Middle East. It has become part of our operational capabilities. We are the first to attack using the F-35 in the Middle East and have already attacked twice on different fronts,” Israel Air Force Commander Maj.-Gen. Amikam Norkin said two years ago.
The last 24 hours have shown the precision of the Israeli Air Force. Several leaders of the Hamas political-military movement in Gaza have been killed after Israeli missile strikes inflicted heavy damage on the buildings they housed. One police station was destroyed, as were several police barricades and influential leaders of the Islamic Jihad terrorist group.
Hamas has thousands of surface-to-air missiles. But Hamas does not have precision radar systems to detect stealth technology, such as the Russians or the Germans. Of course, Iran financially and militarily supports Hamas, but Iran also does not have such radars, although it has continued its efforts in recent years to develop them.
Israeli F-35s are very different from the standard in the world or from those of the US Air Force. Israel has a solid military industry, and according to confirmed data, much of the avionics of the Israeli F-35 have been changed to allow Israeli forces to integrate their radar and electronic warfare systems.
To make a precise defeat, Israel needs quality intelligence of enemy positions in Gaza. Remember – this is a heavily populated area of Palestinians, so the strikes must be accurate and instantaneous.
Most likely, the F-35 was used in the first hours after the missile strikes by Hamas. The F-35 can fly at high altitudes and avoid visual contact with yawning artillery. In the absence of radar to intercept it, Israeli F-35s are the perfect reconnaissance tool to guide Israeli artillery to strike where enemy structures are supposed to be positioned.
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Israeli military expert Yaakov Lappin says the Israeli Air Force’s F-35 is a winged computer. According to him, this machine is very suitable for flying and surveillance in the sky filled with missile attacks, as is the case in recent days.
The Israeli F-35 can serve as an escort or support wing for the other Israeli fighter accepted into service – the F-16. There is logic in his words after, in 2018, an Israeli F-16 was hit over Syria by a surface-to-air missile. But today, with the targeting of an F-35 that can crash into enemy skies, the large amount of data processed by the Israeli F-35’s computer is the perfect guidance system to assist the F-16 in launching an air-to-ground missile.
Spilled, the F-35 is heavily armed, which does not call into question the following fact – used as a reconnaissance tool in the hands of Israeli commanders-in-chief, this fighter most likely struck the first airstrikes on the positions of Hamas and Islamic Jihad three days ago. However, the rest of the time, it accurately and precisely maps the exact positions of Hamas in their alleged shelters in residential buildings in Gaza.
What is happening in the area?
The violence began after the focus fell on controversial judicial and political actions over the Palestinian-populated Sheikh Jara district of East Jerusalem. An Israeli court initially ruled that Palestinians should be evicted from the neighborhood and be populated with Israelis. A hearing on the eviction followed, but it never ended last Sunday and was postponed.
On Monday, Jerusalem was subjected to a brief rocket attack by al-Quds and Hamas with a request on the eviction decision. Israel did not comply with the Palestinians, which led to a retaliatory strike and a rocket fire between the two countries for the second day in a row.
According to a field source, Israel has involved fighter jets and tanks in the conflict, which are hitting 130 targets in the Gaza Strip. These goals are related to the Hamas movement. According to the Israeli authorities, these goals are also associated with terrorist organizations.
The international community welcomes the actions of Israelis and Palestinians, but as statements from both sides make clear, both sides may reach no agreement soon.
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