The United States has been quietly progressing in its expansion of a clandestine military installation situated in Israel’s Negev desert, a mere 32 kilometres (20 miles) from Gaza, according to a report by The Intercept.

Code-named “Site 512,” the construction at the radar facility perched on Mt. Har Qeren will encompass what US government records detail as a “life support facility”.

The hitherto undisclosed $35.8 million US troop facility, which had not been publicly announced or reported earlier, was alluded to indirectly in a contract announcement made by the Pentagon on August 2, the report added.