The IDF reportedly attacked and killed Iraqi troops who discovered the outpost<\/p>\n
Israel secretly built a military outpost in the Iraqi desert to support its air campaign against Iran and even launched strikes on Iraqi troops who nearly discovered it, the Wall Street Journal has reported, citing US officials familiar with the matter.
\nThe clandestine base was set up shortly before the US and Israel launched their military campaign against Iran in late February, according to the report. The US was reportedly aware of the installation, which housed Israeli special forces, served as a logistics hub for the Israeli Air Force, and hosted search-and-rescue teams in case Israeli pilots were shot down.
\nThe outpost was nearly exposed in early March after a local shepherd noticed \u201cunusual military activity,\u201d including helicopter flights, and alerted authorities. Iraqi soldiers then moved to investigate the site but came under heavy fire. The attack killed one Iraqi soldier and wounded two others.
\nBaghdad initially blamed Washington after security forces found evidence that foreign military personnel had been operating in the area.
\n\u201cIt appears there was a certain force on the ground before the strike, supported from the air, operating beyond the capabilities of our units,\u201d Lt. Gen. Qais Al-Muhammadawi, deputy commander of Iraq\u2019s Joint Operations Command, told Iraqi state media after the March attack. \u201cThis reckless operation was carried out without coordination or approval.\u201d<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
US not \u2018pulled into\u2019 Iran war by Israel \u2013 Hegseth (VIDEO)<\/p>\n
The base reportedly helped Israel fight a long-range air war against Iran, whose territory lies over 1,600 kilometers (1,000 miles) from Israel. Israeli aircraft carried out thousands of strikes during the five-week campaign, while the Iraqi desert outpost gave Israeli teams a forward position closer to the battlefield.
\nThe IDF did not comment on the latest report, which adds to growing scrutiny of how Israel\u2019s confrontation with Iran expanded into a broader regional conflict and pulled the US deeper into hostilities.
\nFormer US counterterrorism chief Joe Kent, who resigned in protest in March, has accused Israel of driving Washington into a war despite US intelligence assessments that Tehran was not actively building a nuclear weapon.<\/p>\n
Read more<\/p>\n
Washington ignored intel warnings on Iran \u2013 Trump\u2019s ex-counterterror chief<\/p>\n
Kent claimed that US agencies had warned Iran would retaliate by targeting American bases and attempting to shut down the Strait of Hormuz if attacked. He argued that the Israeli narrative about the Iranian threat ultimately \u201cwon the argument\u201d in Washington, forcing the US into the conflict.
\nTrump administration officials have denied that Israel dragged Washington into the war. US War Secretary Pete Hegseth said earlier this week that President Donald Trump acted based on \u201cAmerican interests\u201d and his \u201cAmerica First\u201d policy, dismissing the idea that Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu had pulled the US into the conflict as a \u201cfalse premise.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
The IDF reportedly attacked and killed Iraqi troops who discovered the outpost Israel secretly built a military outpost in the Iraqi desert to support its air campaign against Iran and…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":35118,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"rop_custom_images_group":[],"rop_custom_messages_group":[],"rop_publish_now":"initial","rop_publish_now_accounts":[],"rop_publish_now_history":[],"rop_publish_now_status":"pending","footnotes":""},"categories":[4,6,3],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-35117","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-economy","category-environment","category-politics"],"aioseo_notices":[],"aioseo_head":"\n\t\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t\n\t\t