Israel built a secret military outpost in the Iraqi desert to support its aerial campaign against Iran, people familiar with the matter, including U.S. officials, told The Wall Street Journal on Saturday.

Jerusalem constructed the base, which housed special forces and served as a logistical hub for the Israeli Air Force, just before the start of “Operation Roaring Lion” against the Islamic Republic, the sources said.

Israel Defense Forces search-and-rescue teams were stationed at the facility in case Israeli pilots were downed, according to the report.

The IAF carried out strikes on Iraqi troops who almost discovered the outpost in the early days of the war, the Journal reported.

After a shepherd reported unusual military activity in the area, Iraqi troops were dispatched to investigate, but the IDF used airstrikes to keep them at bay, one person familiar with the matter said. The Iraqi government at the time condemned the strikes, which left one Iraqi soldier dead and wounded two others.

“It appears there was a certain force on the ground before the strike, supported from the air, operating beyond the capabilities of our units,” Lt. Gen. Qais al-Muhammadawi, deputy commander of the Joint Operations Command, a central security body, told Iraqi state media in March.

The IDF Spokesperson’s Unit on Sunday morning declined to comment on the WSJ report to JNS.

No Israeli planes were shot down during “Operation Roaring Lion/Epic Fury,” the 40-day aerial campaign Jerusalem launched in conjunction with the U.S. military on Feb. 28.

When an American F-15 jet fighter was shot down near Isfahan in central Iran on April 3, the IDF offered its assistance, but U.S. forces managed the rescue of two airmen themselves. Israel did carry out airstrikes to assist the operation, one of the Journal‘s sources said.

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