ISTANBUL: The first of the Russian S-400 defense systems that Ankara has purchased will be loaded on to cargo planes on Sunday and arrive in Turkey some time next week, privately-held broadcaster Haberturk reported.
Washington has said that US sanctions would be triggered when the missile batteries arrive in NATO ally Turkey.
The initial S-400 delivery will be sent on two cargo planes from a Russian military air base, Haberturk said without citing a source. It also reported that a Russian technical team that would oversee its installation is expected to arrive in Turkey by Monday.
Turkey and the United States have been at odds over Ankara’s decision to buy the S-400s, which Washington says are not compatible with NATO defenses and would compromise US F-35 fighter jets, which Turkey helps build and also plans to buy.
Washington has also formally started the process of expelling Turkey from the program for F-35s, made by Lockheed Martin Corp.
Sanctioning Turkey and removing it from the F-35 program would be one of the most significant ruptures in recent history in the relationship between the two nations.
Turkey’s S-400s to be loaded on planes Sunday in Russia: Haberturk
Turkey’s S-400s to be loaded on planes Sunday in Russia: Haberturk
- Two cargo planes will bring the first S-400 deliveries from a Russian military base to Turkey
- US said the S-400 would compromise the F-35 fighter jets
Israel agrees to ‘limited reopening’ of Rafah crossing: PM’s office
- The announcement came after visiting US envoys reportedly pressed Israeli officials to reopen the crossing, a vital entry point for aid into Gaza
JERUSALEM: Israel said Monday it would allow a “limited reopening” of the Rafah border crossing between Gaza and Egypt once it had recovered the remains of the last hostage in the Palestinian territory.
The announcement came after visiting US envoys reportedly pressed Israeli officials to reopen the crossing, a vital entry point for aid into Gaza.
Reopening Rafah forms part of a Gaza truce framework announced by US President Donald Trump in October, but the crossing has remained closed after Israeli forces took control of it during the war.
The Israeli military also said it was searching a cemetery in the Gaza Strip on Sunday for the remains of the last hostage, Ran Gvili, a non-commissioned officer in the police’s elite Yassam unit.
Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s office said the reopening would depend on “the return of all living hostages and a 100 percent effort by Hamas to locate and return all deceased hostages,” Netanyahu’s office said on X.
It said Israel’s military was “currently conducting a focused operation to exhaust all of the intelligence that has been gathered in the effort to locate and return” Gvili’s body.
“Upon completion of this operation, and in accordance with what has been agreed upon with the US, Israel will open the Rafah Crossing,” it said.
