Israel set up a secret military base in the desert of western Iraq to support its air campaign against Iran and even bombed Iraqi troops who almost discovered the site at the start of the war, the report said. Wall Street Journalciting sources with direct knowledge of the matter, including US officials.
The facility was built shortly before the start of the conflict, with Washington’s knowledge, and functioned as a logistics hub for the Israeli Air Force and a support point for special operations.
According to the newspaper, search and rescue teams were positioned at the base to act in the event of Israeli planes crashing in hostile territory — which has not occurred so far.
When an American F‑15 fighter jet was shot down near Isfahan, Israel offered to help with the operation, but US forces conducted the rescue themselves; Still, Israel carried out airstrikes to protect the action, according to one of the sources interviewed.
The existence of the base almost came to light in early March, when a local pastor reported unusual helicopter movement in the region to Iraqi authorities.
Iraqi military personnel were sent in Humvee vehicles to investigate, but as they approached, they were the target of intense aerial fire, which killed one soldier and injured two others, according to a report from an Iraqi commander to state media, reproduced by WSJ.
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In a complaint sent to the UN, Baghdad attributed the attack to “foreign forces” and suggested US involvement — which was denied by an American source interviewed by the newspaper. Israel did not comment on the case.
The report states that the base in Iraq allowed Israel to shorten the distance to the theater of operations, in a conflict in which the country would have carried out thousands of air strikes against Iranian targets over five weeks.
