Israeli F-35 jet damaged by bird during 'independence day' fly-by

An Israeli F-35 fighter jet was damaged when it collided with a bird during Israel's 'independence day' celebrations earlier this week, the Israeli army said.

The plane was forced to land at a nearby airbase after the collision, the Times of Israel reported.

The jet is the second Israeli aircraft to be sidelined this week, after an Apache helicopter was hit with a technical fault and landed in a field.

Israel celebrated its 75th 'independence day' earlier this week, an event remembered by Palestinians as marking the ethnic cleansing of their homeland.

Some 700,000 Palestinians were forcibly expelled by Zionist militias in the years leading up to 1948 to pave way for the creation of the state of Israel.

Palestinians mark the Nakba, or great catastrophe, annually, on 15 May.