Israeli forces operated from base in Iraq during the Iran war: report

Israeli forces established a makeshift base using an old airstrip in Iraq’s desert during the war against Iran, two security officials told AFP on Sunday (May 11, 2026), confirming a report by The Wall Street Journal.

Early in the war, which was ignited by joint U.S.-Israeli attacks on Iran on February 28, the troops were detected in the Najaf desert in the country’s southwest and clashed with Iraqi forces, killing one soldier and wounding two others.

Also read: West Asia war updates on May 11, 2026

The security official said, “Israeli forces established a base in an abandoned airstrip, built by Saddam Hussein, in the Najaf desert”.

“There are no longer forces there, but they may have left equipment,” he said, adding that the Israeli operation “was in coordination with the U.S.”