A new US media report says a rocket “most likely fired by the Palestinians Hamas resistance movement” from the Gaza Strip on October 7 has hit an Israeli military base where, according to experts, many of the country’s nuclear-capable missiles are kept.
The Monday report by The New York Times said although the Israeli missiles weren’t hit in the rocket attack, its impact at the Sdot Micha base in central Israel sparked a fire that approached the regime’s missile storage facilities and other sensitive weaponry.
“More satellite images taken in the hours after the strike captured the rapid spread of the fire and Israeli firefighters’ efforts to stem its growth. At least two firefighting aircraft and streaks of bright red fire retardant were visible near the fire,” the report said.
Israel, which pursues a policy of deliberate ambiguity about its nuclear weapons, is estimated to have 200 to 400 nuclear warheads in its arsenal, making it West Asia’s sole possessor of the nonconventional arms. The usurping entity has, however, refused to either allow inspections of its military nuclear facilities or sign the NPT, an international treaty aimed at preventing the spread of nuclear arms.
October 7 was the day when the Gaza-based Palestinian resistance movements launched a surprise operation, dubbed al-Aqsa Storm, against the occupying entity in response to the regime’s decades-long campaign of bloodletting and devastation against Palestinians. The operation started with a heavy barrage of rockets fired by resistance fighters at Israel’s sensitive military sites and settlements.
Experts quoted by the paper said the base most likely houses 25 to 50 nuclear-capable Jericho missile launchers. According to declassified US government documents, Israel’s Jericho missiles are equipped to carry nuclear warheads.
The missile strike, the report said, proved that despite all Israeli allegations about the capability of its air defense systems, the Palestinians resistance’s rockets were able to “slip through” the regime’s air defenses and hit the military base that is home to its strategic weapons.
“…the targeting of one of the most sensitive military locations in Israel shows that the scope of the Oct. 7 attacks may have been even greater than previously known — and that [Palestinian] rockets can penetrate the airspace around Israel’s closely guarded strategic weapons,” the report said.
“It’s unclear how many rockets were intercepted by Israel’s Iron Dome air defense system, or managed to slip through and hit the base in addition to the one found by The Times,” the report said, admitting that in some cases on October 7, “Iron Dome became overwhelmed by the amount of incoming fire or ran out of interceptor missiles.”
Although the Israeli occupation forces declined to comment on the incident, recent satellite images show new earthen berms and barriers have been built around military positions near the rocket impact location.
