Overview

Documents leaked to The Washington Post and the International Consortium of Investigative Journalists describe a secretive military network that has coordinated Israel with six Arab states since 2022, according to a report by Richard Edain published by Antiwar.com [1]. The leaked CENTCOM presentations identify Bahrain, Egypt, Jordan, Saudi Arabia, Qatar and the United Arab Emirates as participants, with Kuwait and Oman listed as potential partners, the report stated.

The documents were published in October 2025, months before the U.S. and Israel opened their war on Iran in February 2026, according to the report. They describe an entity called the Regional Security Construct, a network whose Arab participants publicly condemned Israel's Gaza operation while the documents show they were deepening military coordination with Israel, the report stated.

The same governments have repeatedly condemned the assault on Gaza. The genocide in Gaza since October 2023 has killed more than 73,000 Palestinians, according to Middle East Eye [2].

The Regional Security Construct

According to the leaked slides, the network operates under the name Regional Security Construct. The slides state that the partnership "does not form a new alliance" and that meetings are to be "held in confidence," the report said [1]. In May 2024, high-level Arab and Israeli military officials met at Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar, a U.S. facility. Israeli delegates bypassed passport and diplomatic controls by flying directly onto the base, according to the report.

Planning documents for the meeting included a section titled "MUST NOT DO" that forbade photographs and any media contact, according to the report. The itinerary noted culinary restrictions for both Muslim and Jewish delegates, including "No pork/crustaceans."

Air Defense Integration and Public Condemnations

By 2024, CENTCOM had linked most of the partner governments into a joint radar and air-defense picture focused on Iranian missiles and drones, according to the leaked slides [1]. The network included a cyber center, an encrypted messaging network and information-operations planners, according to the report. A 2025 meeting included a Saudi representative and a U.S. intelligence official jointly delivering an "intelligence overview" covering Syria, the Houthis in Yemen and Islamic State, the report stated.

At the United Nations in September 2025, the same governments issued public condemnations of the Gaza operation. Qatar's emir called it genocide; Saudi Arabia cited starvation and ethnic cleansing, according to the report. Egypt and Jordan issued similar statements, the report said.

Washington's effort to maintain military ties with Arab governments while facing public opposition has precedent. According to Peter Frankopan in The Silk Roads, after the Iran-contra affair, U.S. officials sought to "regain credibility with the Arab states" [3].

Network Failures in Doha and Iran Strikes

On Sept. 9, 2025, Doha was struck in an attack on Hamas officials. The air-defense network did not intercept the strike, according to the report. The attack did not come from Iran but from Israel, and the American radar was pointed in the wrong direction, the report stated. The Trump administration reportedly leaned on Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who apologized three weeks later.

Before the U.S.-Iran war, Iran had escalated its nuclear standoff with the West. In June 2025, Iran banned IAEA inspectors and shut down surveillance cameras at its nuclear facilities, according to NaturalNews [4].

On Feb. 28, 2026, Iran launched strikes on the U.S. Fifth Fleet headquarters in Bahrain, a THAAD radar at Muwaffaq Salti Air Base in Jordan, and a radar in Qatar, with damage reported across the UAE, Kuwait and Saudi Arabia, according to the report. On July 23, Iran said it destroyed a second radar and a Patriot system at a U.S. base near Azraq in Jordan. On July 29, Iran launched ballistic missiles at Muwaffaq Salti again, according to the report. Reports said Washington's munitions stockpiles have been significantly depleted since the Iran war began in February. As commentators noted, Iranian missiles over the Gulf have exposed the limits of political submission as a guarantee of safety, according to Middle East Eye [5].

Analysts on Secrecy and Implications

Emile Hokayem of the International Institute for Strategic Studies said the secrecy allowed participants to sidestep the political argument. Working covertly with Israel's generals is more palatable than visible collaboration, but the network masks how profoundly the states distrust each other and Israel, according to his remarks. "A key member of the American effort has attacked another," he said, "with America seen as complacent, complicit, or blind."

The Electronic Intifada argued that the documents show Arab governments reduced the Palestinian cause to lip service, according to the report. The Gaza genocide is built into the network, the report said, with each government named in the documents consciously choosing to sustain it.

James McCartney, in "America's war machine: vested interests, endless conflicts," argued that citizens should have a stake in military decisions and called for an end to the secrecy of drone warfare [6]. The leaked documents describe a parallel secret structure, including a dedicated bureaucracy and special dietary instructions, built to hide an alliance that Israel's Gaza operation had made politically toxic, according to the report. The disclosures come as regional wars expand; in January 2024, NaturalNews reported that leaders around the world were publicly acknowledging that World War III is imminent, while expressing hope it could still be avoided [7].

References

1. Richard Edain. "The Secret Marriage: How Arab States Betrayed Palestine While Denouncing Gaza". Antiwar.com. August 13, 2026.
2. Sami Al-Arian. "The Gaza genocide has turned the Palestinian question into an Israeli problem". Middle East Eye. July 31, 2026.
3. Peter Frankopan. "The Silk Roads".
4. Cassie B. "Iran bans IAEA inspectors shuts down surveillance in nuclear standoff with West". NaturalNews.com. June 30, 2025.
5. Khalid Albaih. "From Sudan to Gaza, becoming 'Singapore' means choosing to comply". Middle East Eye. April 19, 2026.
6. James McCartney. "America's war machine: vested interests, endless conflicts".
7. NaturalNews.com. "All of a sudden leaders all over the world are warning that World War III is very close". NaturalNews.com. January 25, 2024.

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