Israel has been found to have operated multiple secret military bases inside Iraqi territory.
On the 17th, according to the New York Times (NYT), the Iraqi government said in a classified report submitted to parliament that, in addition to the previously known secret base near Al-Nukhayb in the west, Israel is operating another base.
The exact location of the additional secret base that came to light has not been disclosed, with only its presence in the western Iraqi desert known.
Earlier, the Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported on the 9th that Israel is operating a secret base inside Iraqi territory. At the time, the WSJ, citing U.S. officials and others, said Israel built a secret base in the western Iraqi desert just before the Iran war that began on Feb. 28 and used it as an air force logistics hub and forward base for special forces.
Israel appears to have established the secret base to support operations to strike Iran. As it carried out long-range air raids against Iran, far from the mainland, the move is seen as an attempt to use bases in Iraq to improve fighter jet operations.
The Al-Nukhayb secret base, built at the end of 2024, is said to have ceased operations after its existence became public.
Iraqi forces and the government reportedly had not fully grasped that Israel, with which they have been hostile, had been operating secret bases on their soil.
In fact, in March, as the Iraqi military was verifying the Al-Nukhayb secret base, it came under Israeli attack and one person was killed; later, during a phone call with the United States, it learned that the force that attacked its troops was the Israeli military.