A rocket fired on October 7 by Hamas likely hit an Israeli military base where dozens of the country’s nuclear-capable missiles are believed to be based, according to new reports.
The missile did not hit any of Israel’s nuclear-capable rockets but caused a fire near its storage facility at the Sdot Micha base in central Israel, the New York Times said Monday.
Although Israel has never admitted it, whistleblowers, US officials and satellite data estimate there may be 25 to 50 nuclear-capable Jericho missile launchers at the base.
It is not known how many nuclear weapons Israel has.
The weapons may be held at different facilities, the outlet said.
But the previously unreported attack was the first time a suspected Hamas attack had come so close to Israel’s nuclear-capable missiles.
It remains unclear whether Hamas had knowledge of what was stored in Sdot Micha or if it had just targeted the base as one of many military sites during its October 7 terrorist attack.
Neither Hamas nor Israel has commented on the strike in Sdot Micha.
Israeli rockets are seen in a photo tweeted by the Israeli Air Force Oct. 4. 2020. X/IAFsite, Avichai Socher Post illustration using Google Earth showing the location of Gaza and the Israeli settlement in Sdot Micha. Post Illustration
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The rocket hit the base, located 15 miles west of Jerusalem, at about 10 a.m., hitting a small ravine near the Jericho missile facility, according to the Times.
Satellite images of the base revealed charred ground from the rocket blast, with other records documenting efforts to put out the brush fire ignited by the explosion.
Although the fire destroyed 40 acres at the base, it failed to reach any of the suspected Jericho missile facilities.
A rocket from the Gaza Strip hit a street in Ashkelon, Israel, on Saturday, Oct. 7. 2023. AP
It remains unclear whether more than one rocket managed to reach Sdot Micha, but numerous missiles were fired from Gaza on Oct. 7. was able to reach Israel when its Iron Dome air defense system was overwhelmed by large amounts of artillery.
Hans Kristensen, director of the Federation of American Scientists’ Nuclear Information Project, stated that even if the fire had reached the missile facility, the underground storage building would have been able to withstand the damage.
But he told the Times that there was still a risk posed by a fire of that magnitude reaching a critical ammunition depot.
Rockets were fired at Israel from Gaza, Saturday, Oct. 7. 2023. AP
“All kinds of things can go wrong,” he said.
Recent satellite images of the base show that new moorings and barriers have been built around the area where the rocket landed, likely to improve Sdot Micha’s defenses against future attacks.
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Source: thtrangdai.edu.vn/en/
