The US army intends to use the Israeli coast as a military base against troops in nearby areas, including Russian forces in Syria, Al-Masdar News (AMN) reported the US National Defence Authorisation Act (NDAA) stipulating.

The Israel-based news website said that according to the NDAA subsections, the US military is to establish a maritime base in the Israeli coastal city of Haifa in the coming years.

The US government’s ongoing assistance to Israel comes under section 1259 of the National Defence Authorisation Act for 2017 titled “Authorization of United States assistance to Israel”, which stipulated: “The maritime security and maritime domain awareness in the Eastern Mediterranean Sea are critical not only to the security of Israel but also to US national security interests and encourage the Department of Defence to continue efforts to develop and improve capabilities in these areas.”

The law is valid until 2021.