Alert in Israel: a rocket launched from Syria fell near the Dimona nuclear research center

A rocket from Syria fell on Wednesday around the Israeli Nuclear Research Center in Dimona, ringing warning sirens in the region. Shortly after Israel Defense Force (IDF) fighters they attacked the battery from where it was thrown, as indicated by official sources

According to newspaper reports The Jerusalem Post, residents around Abu Qrenat, where the first sirens sounded, and in Jerusalem, 75 kilometers to the north, They said they heard “loud explosions”.

It was also later confirmed that the IDF they fired a Patriot rocket, part of Israel’s defense system after the detection of the projectile launched from Syria.

According to the official statement, it would be an anti-aircraft missile launched from Syria in the direction of Israel. It was not clear if it was aimed at Israeli aircraft and was missed or if it was launched for any other reason. The projectile flew into the Negev desert, near Abu Qrenat and Dimona, without causing any damage or injury.

In response, Israeli fighters attacked Syrian anti-aircraft batteries deployed at the border, including the one from where the rocket that landed in the Negev was launched.

Dimona, located in the south of the country, hosts Negev Shimon Peres Nuclear Research Center, a central element in Israel’s nuclear program. The area is rarely the target of rocket attacks.

On Saturday, the Iranian press he had just threatened to attack the facilities in Dimona in retaliation for the sabotage against the Natanz nuclear research center, which took place on April 11 in Iran, which Tehran attributed to Israel, the newspaper reported The Times of Israel. Iran does not usually launch this type of attack from its territory and generally does so from Syria, Iraq or Yemen, countries where it has a significant presence and where it usually finances different groups.

As a result, the defenses around the research center have been strengthened in recent days.

Negev Nuclear Research Center

Israel’s atomic plant in the Negev, renamed in 2018 after the late President Shimon Peres, was built in 1958 south of the city of Dimona.

The complex includes a heavy water-cooled nuclear reactor and many other buildings that Israel claims are used for research in the field of nuclear science and energy.

However, for the international community, Dimona is one of the pillars of the Israeli nuclear weapons program, which the country officially denies owning.

Sabotage in Natanz

On April 11, the Iranian underground nuclear plant in Natanz ran out of energy, just hours after the launch of new advanced centrifuges capable of enriching uranium faster, in an incident described by an Iranian parliamentarian as probable “sabotage” and by Western intelligence officials not identified as possible cyber attack.

The news of the incident coincided with the arrival in Israel of the US Secretary of Defense, Lloyd Austin, on a visit for talks with Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu and Israeli Defense Minister Benny Gantz. The United States, Israel’s main security partner, is trying to join the 2015 nuclear deal aimed at limiting the Tehran program so that it cannot obtain a nuclear weapon.

Natanz was built largely underground to withstand enemy air attacks. It became a hot spot for Western fears about Iran’s nuclear program in 2002, when satellite photos showed Iran building its underground centrifuge at the site, about 200 kilometers south of the capital Tehran.

The nuclear complex is one of the sites monitored by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) based on the nuclear deal signed in 2015 between Iran and six major powers.

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