JERUSALEM: Israel is the first country to have used the US-made F-35stealth fighter in combat, the Israeli air force chief said on Tuesday inremarks carried by the military’s official Twitter account.

Local media further quoted Major-General Amikam Norkin as saying in aspeech to the chiefs of 20 foreign air forces convening in Israel: “We areflying the F-35 all over the Middle East and have already attacked twice ontwo different fronts”.

Norkin also displayed a photograph of an Israeli F-35 overflying Beirut,local media said.

Manufactured by Lockheed Martin Corp, the F-35 is also known as the JointStrike Fighter and, in Israel, by its Hebrew name “Adir” (Mighty).

Israel was the first country outside the United States to acquire the F-35.In December 2016, it received the first two planes out of an order of 50.According to Israeli media, at least nine have been delivered so far.

Israel says it has carried out scores of strikes in Syria against suspectedIranian emplacements or arms transfers to Hezbollah guerrillas inneighboring Lebanon.

Its air forces is also widely believed to have operated over againstIslamist militants in the Egyptian Sinai and Hamas arms smugglers in Sudan.- Agencies