NEW YORK, December 5. /TASS/. Israel’s military base Sdot Micha, which allegedly stores nuclear weapons, was subjected to a rocket strike on October 7, The New York Times reported referring to visual analysis from the satellite footage.

"A rocket most likely fired by Hamas militants during their Oct. 7 attack on Israel struck an Israeli military base where, experts say, many of the country’s nuclear-capable missiles are based," the US daily said.

"While the missiles themselves weren’t hit, the rocket’s impact, at the Sdot Micha base in central Israel, sparked a fire that approached missile storage facilities and other sensitive weaponry," according to The New York Times.

"The previously unreported strike on Sdot Micha is the first known instance of Palestinian militants hitting a site suspected of containing Israeli nuclear weaponry. It’s unclear if they knew the specifics of what they were targeting, beyond the base simply being a military facility," the respected daily added.

In early November, Israel’s Heritage Minister Amichai Eliyahu was asked in an interview with Kol Berama Radio whether a nuclear bomb should be dropped on Gaza and responded that it was one of the options. The official later said that the nuclear bomb statement was metaphorical, but Israel definitely needs a powerful and disproportionate response to terrorism. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suspended Eliyahu from government meetings and criticized his remarks about the possibility of using nuclear weapons in Gaza.

Eliyahu's remarks were condemned by several Middle Eastern countries, including Qatar, Saudi Arabia and Syria. A statement released by the Saudi foreign ministry said that "the failure to immediately dismiss the minister or suspend him from office reflects the height of the Israeli government's contempt for all human, moral, religious and legal norms and values."

Tensions flared up again in the Middle East on October 7 when militants from the Gaza-based Palestinian radical group Hamas staged a surprise incursion into Israeli territory from the Gaza Strip.

Hamas described its attack as a response to the aggressive actions of Israeli authorities against the Al-Aqsa Mosque on the Temple Mount in Jerusalem’s Old City. In response, Israel announced a total blockade of the Gaza Strip, home to 2.3 million Palestinians, and began delivering air strikes on the enclave and certain parts of Lebanon and Syria. Clashes are underway in the West Bank as well.