CNN reporter shares experience onboard Israeli refueling plane during airstrike on Houthis in Yemen

The Israeli Air Force (IAF) granted permission to CNN reporter Nic Robertson to join onboard an Israeli refueling plane that took part in the Israeli strike on the Iranian-backed Houthi terrorist group in Yemen on Sunday. The veteran correspondent recalled his exclusive experience.

"Aboard an aging Boeing 707, thousands of feet above the Red Sea, I don a set of high-tech 3D goggles and stare at the small TV monitor recessed in a bank of retro dials and switches," Robertson said.

"Saudi Arabia’s amber desert slides by to my right, Egypt’s coast to my left, and then a monstrous F35 fighter jet fills the tiny screen. I am with the Israel Defense Forces (IDF) – the first foreign journalist to be taken on a combat mission more than a thousand miles from Israel aboard a fighter jet refuel tanker," he added.

Robertson indicated that he did not receive any prior notice about the aircraft's destination.

"Israel’s invitation to join this mission came with no detail about the plane’s destination. As I climb the plane’s rickety steps, I have no idea where I am going or what this IDF flight will reveal about military operations."

"Except for the cockpit, I have access to the more than 50-year-old former commercial airliner, and its commanders, under the condition that they not be named. Flying 1,200 miles (1,500 kilometers), the refueling mission I discover I am joining is the IDF’s longest-range combat mission since a 1985 raid on Tunis," he continued, referring to the Israeli Air Force’s strike on PLO’s former headquarters in Tunisia.

Due to strict security regulations, neither Robertson nor the accompanying IDF Spokesman Lt.-Col. Nadav Shoshani was permitted to bring cell phones or camera equipment onboard the aircraft.

The CNN reporter recalled the unique experience of witnessing firsthand the refueling of the IAF's fifth-generation F35 fighter jets.

"For more than an hour and a half, Israeli F35 fighter jets, each worth more than $100 million, close in behind the 707 tanker, nudging toward its trailing fuel pipe. The squadron commander, a 15-year refueling veteran, stares through his 3D goggles, merging two camera images. He jockeys the two long levers beside his seat and steers the nozzle toward the gas-hungry fighter jet’s fuel port."

"We begin circling, waiting for fighter pilots to deliver their payloads. Any attack from the ground could cost them vital fuel as they try to evade being shot down and require a refill to get back to base," Robertson recalled.

Shoshani said the strike on the Houthis in Yemen serves as a message to their Iranian patrons in Tehran to stay out of the conflict.

The Israeli military confirmed on Sunday that it had struck several strategic Houthi targets in Yemen, located 1,800 kilometers (1,100 miles) from the Jewish state. This is approximately the same distance between Israel and Iran.

“In a large-scale air operation today (Sunday), dozens of air force aircraft, including fighter jets, refueling and intelligence planes…attacked targets used by the Houthi terrorist regime in the areas of Ras Issa and Hodeida in Yemen,” the IDF said in an official statement.

The strike on Sunday was the second time Israel had attacked Houthi targets in Yemen.

In July, the Air Force struck the Houthi-controlled port of Hodeidah, a key location where the Houthi militants receive a significant portion of their weapons and essential goods from the Iranian regime.

Israeli strikes on the Houthis in Yemen are a response to the terror group firing over 200 missiles and drones at Israel since October 2023. In July, one Israeli civilian was killed when an explosive Houthi drone crashed into a residential building in Tel Aviv.

The Houthis have declared their support for Hamas in the war against Israel since the Oct. 7 attack and has been targeting vessels traveling through the Red Sea, which it claims are either headed for Israel or have ties to the Jewish state.

So far, the Houthis have damaged more than 80 ships with missile fire and drones, including the sinking of two vessels and violently seizing another ship. The terror group’s actions have largely shut down international traffic through the once-busy waterway.