Army admits fighter jets damaged in flooding last week

Several fighter jets were damaged last week as heavy rains flooded their hangars, the military acknowledges today, after attempts to have the information censored.

The repairs are expected to cost in the tens of millions of shekels.

“A number of planes were damaged. They will be repaired and will return to flight in the coming days,” the military says.

Last week saw major flooding along the coast and in the Negev desert. According to the Israel Defense Forces, an undisclosed air force base in southern Israel was hit hard by the storm, as nearby streams flooded, sending huge amounts of rainwater toward the covered hangars where the fighter jets were stored.

A photograph of one of the planes, an F-16 fighter jet, in a flooded hangar is shared widely on social media on Sunday evening after the military censor allows Israeli outlets to report on the incident.

The military will not specify the precise number and varieties of aircraft damaged by the flooding.

Channel 12 news reports that several mechanics needed to be rescued from the flooded hangars as well, with waters reaching more than 1.5 meters (4.5 feet) in height. The IDF will not immediate confirm that report, but says that no soldiers were injured in the flood.

The military says staff on the air force base pumped out the rainwater from the hangars over the weekend.

— Judah Ari Gross