Photographs circulating online appear to show a US Boeing KC-135 refuelling aircraft damaged while on the ground at Ben Gurion airport in Tel Aviv.

The images seem to show clear damage to the aircraft’s tail fin. Additional footage aired by Israeli broadcaster Kan appears to show the other side of the plane, where the damage can also be seen.

The BBC says its verification work indicates the pictures were taken at Ben Gurion and uploaded recently.

The images emerged just hours after US Central Command said another KC-135 had crashed in western Iraq on Thursday, killing all six crew members on board. American officials said that crash was not the result of hostile fire or friendly fire.

It is not yet clear what caused the damage to the aircraft seen in Tel Aviv, or whether it is connected in any way to the incident in Iraq.

Flight tracking data from Flightradar24 appears to show the aircraft travelling over Jordan before continuing towards Israel.