Hamas rocket struck Israeli base on Oct. 7 holding dozens of nuclear-capable missiles: report

A rocket fired Oct. 7 likely by Hamas struck an Israeli military base where dozens of the country’s nuclear-capable missiles are believed to be based, according to a new report.

The missile did not strike any of Israel’s nuke-bearing rockets but caused a fire to spread near its storage facilities at the Sdot Micha base in central Israel, the New York Times said Monday.

While Israel has never acknowledged it, whistleblowers, US officials and satellite data estimate that there are likely 25 to 50 nuclear-capable Jericho missile launchers at the base.

It’s unknown how many nuclear weapons Israel has.

Those weapons are likely held at a different facility, the outlet said.

But the previously unreported attack would be the first time a suspected Hamas strike has reached so close to Israel’s nuclear-capable missiles.

It remains unclear if Hamas has knowledge of what’s stored at Sdot Micha or if it had just targeted the base as one of many military sites during its Oct. 7 terrorist attack.

Neither Hamas nor Israel has not commented on the strike at Sdot Micha.

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The rocket hit the base, located 15 miles west of Jerusalem, at around 10 a.m., striking a small ravine near the Jericho missile facility, according to the Times.

Satellite images of the base revealed the charred land caused by the rocket’s explosion, with other records documented efforts to extinguish the brush fire ignited by the blast.

Although the fire destroyed 40 acres at the base, it failed to reach any of the suspected Jericho missile facilities.

It remains unclear if more than one rocket was able to reach Sdot Micha, but many missiles fired from Gaza on Oct. 7 were able to stretch to Israel as its Iron Dome air defense system became overwhelmed by the sheer amount of artillery.

Hans Kristensen, director of the Federation of American Scientists’ Nuclear Information Project, noted that even if the fire had reached the missile facility, the underground storage building would be able to withstand the damage.

But he told the Times that there were still risks posed by having a fire that size reach such a critical munitions depot.

“All sorts of things can go wrong,” he said.

Recent satellite images of the base show that new berms and barriers have been built around the area where the rocket landed, likely to bolster Sdot Micha’s defense against future attacks.