Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Centre

The Shimon Peres Negev Nuclear Research Centre is Israel's primary nuclear research facility, located near the city of Dimona in the Negev desert. Established in the late 1950s with French assistance, it is widely understood to be the foundation of Israel's undeclared nuclear weapons programme. Israel maintains a policy of nuclear ambiguity, neither confirming nor denying weapons capabilities. The site is not under full IAEA safeguards.

Iranian Ballistic Missiles struck Dimona on Friday, wounding 40 people including a 12-year-old boy. The IAEA confirmed no damage to the reactor and no abnormal radiation levels. Israeli firefighters reported that interceptors failed to engage the threats, resulting in two direct hits by warheads weighing hundreds of kilograms. IDF Spokesman Brig. Gen. Effie Defrin acknowledged the system operated but did not intercept the missile.

The strike is the first known Ballistic missile hit on a nuclear facility in an active conflict. It raises urgent questions about the adequacy of Israeli air defences around its most sensitive site, and whether Iran's targeting of the centre signals an intent to threaten nuclear escalation or provoke a severe Israeli response.