JERUSALEM: Israel has approved buying a third squadron of advanced F-35 fighter jets manufactured by Lockheed Martin in a $3-billion deal, the defence ministry said on Sunday.

Israel is the only Middle East nation with F-35s, the world’s most advanced fighter which is stealth capable and can be used to gather intelligence, strike deep into enemy territory and engage in air duels.

The deal to purchase 25 F-35 jets — expected to be signed in coming months — will expand the country’s fleet of the 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 defence industries in the production of aircraft parts,” the statement said.

New purchase will expand Tel Aviv’s fleet of the aircraft to 75

Lockheed Martin and engine manufacturer Pratt & Whitney have agreed to involve Israeli defence companies in the production of aircraft components, the Israeli ministry added.

In May 2018, Israel’s military said it had become the first country to use F-35s in combat.

The country has launched hundreds of air raids on Syrian territory during that country’s years of war, primarily targeting Iran-backed forces and Lebanese Hezbollah fighters as well as Syrian army positions.

UN peacekeepers released

Israel has released three Fijian UN peacekeepers arrested for drug smuggling, after it emerged the suspicious substance they were carrying across the border was not liquid cocaine, police said Sunday.

The three soldiers, serving with the United Nations Disengagement Observer Force in the Golan Heights, were detained on June 25 at Israel’s border with Jordan.

Israel’s Tax Authority and police said at the time they were stopped during a routine inspection at the Jordan River Crossing, also known as Sheikh Hussein Bridge.

Suspicions were raised about perfume-making kits that members of the group were allegedly carrying and “which included bottles with liquid cocaine”, the Israeli statement last week said.

Authorities in Suva have confirmed the soldiers were serving in the Fiji Battalion of the UN force.

Their remand was extended once on Wednesday, but on Friday they were released from custody “after it turned out that the substance in the bottles was not drugs,” a police spokesman said.

Israel captured the Golan Heights from Syria and later annexed the territory in a move not recognised by the United Nations.

In 1974, a UN force was dispatched to a buffer zone and tasked with monitoring a ceasefire.

Today, the force includes about 1,000 troops from a dozen nations, including Fiji, Argentina, Ireland and Nepal.

Published in Dawn, July 3rd, 2023