Haifa Street

Haifa Street (or Hayfa Street) (شارع حيفا) is a two mile long street in Baghdad, Iraq. Along with Yafa Street (named after the port city of Jaffa), it runs southeast to the Assassin's Gate, an archway that served as the main entrance to the American-run Green Zone during the 2003 invasion of Iraq, paralleling the Tigris river. It was named "Haifa" in the 1980s by Saddam Hussein in honor of the port city of Haifa, Israel. The street is lined with many high-rise buildings. Prior to the 1990-1991 gulf war, the British Embassy in Iraq was located on Haifa Street.

During the American invasion of Iraq
Haifa Street was the location of the June 2004 Operation Haifa Street, and the September 2004 Haifa Street helicopter incident, in which a helicopter fired on a burning American Bradley Fighting Vehicle and killed 12 civilians, including journalist Mazen al-Tumeizi. Two days later a massive car bombing on Haifa Street killed 47. American troops stationed in Baghdad at the time, C Company, 1/153 IN of the Arkansas Army National Guard, which was attached to Task Force 1/9, dubbed the street "Purple Heart Boulevard". On December 24, 2004 U.S. Soldiers from B Co. 3/325th AIR of the 82d Airborne Division in taking over a palace, later dubbed Predator Palace, and made it the 3/325th A.I.R. home for 4 months. During this time the paratroopers performed combat missions to assist weeding out the enemy. Ultimately the efforts of B Co. 3/325 AIR, made Haifa Street a safer place. By mid-2005 there were reports that conditions on Haifa Street had calmed, and control of the street was turned over to Iraqi forces in February 2006 but as of early 2007 the street remained riddled with insurgent hideouts. Fifty people were killed in a US-led operation there on January 9, 2007 and another thirty were killed on January 24.