B-2s in motion, Fordow on alert: Israel debates next steps as Trump weighs US strike

Report by Amal Shehadeh, English adaptation by Karine Keuchkerian

The fate of the war remains unclear for Israel. Either the United States intervenes directly and strikes Iran’s Fordow Fuel Enrichment Plant—allowing Tel Aviv to end the war within a week—or the confrontation drags on, as Israel's army chief Eyal Zamir declared, until Israel fully dismantles Iran’s nuclear capabilities.

Amid this uncertainty, news of at least three B-2 bombers taking off from Whiteman Air Force Base, accompanied by refueling aircraft, has become a leading story in Tel Aviv. These bombers are capable of carrying massive bombs that could penetrate the Fordow facility. 

The key question now: Are they heading toward the region, or is this a training mission?

In either case, multiple military and intelligence officials have confirmed that the Israeli air force cannot independently carry out a strike on what Israelis call Iran’s “holy grail”—the Fordow site—regardless of the tactics or types of bombs used.

Several proposals to destroy the facility have been floated—some considered unrealistic. One scenario involves digging a deep tunnel beneath the site and dropping multiple bombs there, a process estimated to take at least 10 hours, given the area’s heavy protection by Iran’s Islamic Revolutionary Guard Corps.

With these scenarios in play, Israel now awaits a decision from U.S. President Donald Trump—and the fate of the B-2 bombers—to determine whether the Fordow strike is imminent or will occur within the two-week deadline Trump set, a period expected to bring serious escalation and devastating consequences for both Tehran and Tel Aviv.