One of the Hamas rockets fired at Israel from the Gaza Strip on October 7 hit the Sdot Micha military base, which allegedly housed missiles capable of carrying nuclear weapons.
This was reported by The New York Times on December 4.
The missiles themselves were reportedly not hit, but the strike triggered a fire that spread to the storage facilities for missiles and other sensitive weapons.
According to the authors of the article, Israel has never recognized the existence of its nuclear arsenal. At the same time, Israeli informants, U.S. officials, and satellite image analysts agree that the country possesses at least a small number of nuclear weapons.
According to Hans Christensen, director of the Nuclear Information Project of the Federation of American Scientists, the Sdokh-Mikh base can store 25 to 50 Jericho missile launchers capable of carrying nuclear weapons.
According to declassified US government documents, Israeli Jericho missiles are equipped with nuclear warheads. According to Christensen, the warheads are most likely stored in a separate location, far from the base, and therefore were not at risk during the Hamas rocket attack.
The IDF refused to comment on this. At the same time, the journalists noted that after October 7, new earthen mounds and barriers were built around military positions near the site of the missile crash, presumably to protect against future attacks.
The media also showed satellite images showing traces of a fire at the base. The fire reportedly burned about 160,000 square meters. Weapons and equipment remained intact. Analysts believe that the fire stopped about 300 meters from the nearest possible missile site.
According to Christensen, even if the fire had reached the missiles, their underground tunnel shelters were built to withstand the damage.
