Officials confirm Israel operated second secret base in Iraq

Israel reportedly maintained at least two covert bases in Iraq to support operations in Iran, multiple officials say.

By World Israel News Staff

Israel operated at least two covert military outposts in Iraq’s western desert for more than a year, using one of them to support air operations against Iran, The New York Times reported Sunday, citing Iraqi and regional officials.

The disclosure has opened a new political crisis in Baghdad, where lawmakers are demanding answers over how a hostile foreign state was able to operate on Iraqi territory without public acknowledgment by the government. Iraq has no diplomatic relations with Israel and has long sought to avoid becoming a direct battleground among Israel, the United States and Iran.

The previously undisclosed activity came to light after the March 3 killing of Awad al-Shammari, a 29-year-old Bedouin shepherd whose family members said had stumbled on one of the sites while traveling to the town of al-Nukhaib.

According to the Times, al-Shammari reported seeing soldiers, helicopters and tents near a landing strip before contact with him was lost.

Witnesses told the newspaper that a helicopter later chased and fired on his pickup truck until it stopped in the desert. His family later found the vehicle burned and riddled with bullets.

Israel’s military declined the Times’ requests for comment on the alleged bases or al-Shammari’s death.

The Wall Street Journal previously reported the existence of an Israeli outpost in Iraq.

The Times said Iraqi officials had identified a second, previously undisclosed Israeli site in the western desert.

The Associated Press also reported Saturday that Israeli forces had set up a temporary outpost in Iraq’s Nukhaib desert during the US-Israeli war with Iran, citing Iraqi and US officials.

Iraqi and regional officials told the Times that the base found by al-Shammari had been prepared as early as late 2024 and was used during Israel’s 12-day war with Iran in June 2025.

They said the site helped shorten flight distances for Israeli aircraft and supported air operations, refueling and medical treatment.

A US Central Command spokesman declined to comment to the Times on Israeli operations in Iraq and referred questions to the Israel Defense Forces.

Former senior US military officials and diplomats told the newspaper it was highly unlikely that Central Command was unaware of an Israeli presence in western Iraq, given Washington’s close military coordination with Israel.

The allegations are politically explosive for Iraq, which remains caught between its security partnership with Washington and the influence of Iran-backed factions inside the country.

AP reported that the disputed site was described by some officials as a logistical hub for Israeli special and air forces, while Iraqi authorities have not formally acknowledged that the force was Israeli.

Waad al-Kadu, an Iraqi lawmaker who attended a confidential parliamentary briefing on the matter, told the Times the episode showed “a blatant disregard for Iraqi sovereignty, its government and its forces, as well as for the dignity of the Iraqi people.”

“The position of our security leaders is shameful,” he said.

Maj. Gen. Ali al-Hamdani, commander of Iraq’s Western Euphrates Forces, told the Times that the army had suspected an Israeli presence in the desert for more than a month before al-Shammari’s discovery.

“Until now,” he said, “the government has been silent about it.”

Iraq’s government has publicly avoided confirming the reports. Lt. Gen. Saad Maan, a spokesman for Iraq’s security forces, told the Times that Iraq “has no information regarding the locations of any Israeli military bases.”

The day after al-Shammari’s report, Iraqi forces sent a reconnaissance mission toward the area, according to Iraqi officials cited by the Times. Iraq’s Joint Operations Command later said “foreign” forces had attacked the troops, killing one soldier, wounding two others and bombing two vehicles before the force withdrew.

In private, Iraqi officials came to believe the force was Israeli after US military counterparts said it was not American.

Hassan Fadaam, an Iraqi lawmaker who attended the closed parliamentary session, said the al-Nukhaib site was not the only Israeli outpost in Iraq.

“The one in al-Nukhaib is just the only one that was found out,” he told the Times.

The al-Nukhaib base is reportedly no longer operating. The status of the second reported Israeli outpost remains unclear.

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