Information is still scarce about the nature of the explosion that occurred near the Israeli nuclear reactor, Dimona, a few days after the attack on the Natanz nuclear reactor in Iran, which had previously vowed revenge.

This mutual escalation between Iran and Israel raises a number of questions about the symbolic targeting of the Dimona reactor, and where can the exchanged messages between the two sides reach?

In this report, we try to find answers to several questions:

What is the truth about the explosion?

About 20 hours after the Dimona explosion, and Iranian and Israeli accounts are conflicting about it, Israeli information suggests that the explosion was caused by a surface-to-air missile, "SA 5", launched from inside Syria, heading to the Dimona reactor, but it fell in the gathering area Bedouin in the Negev desert.

Israeli military forums have reported that the anti-aircraft missile has a range of hundreds of kilometers, has a warhead weighing more than two hundred kilograms, is designed to target aircraft at a distance of 40,000 feet, and has a very active engine, and sometimes exceeds the range set by battery operators.

For its part, Iranian circles said that the surface-to-surface missile, not a surface-to-air missile, is of the "Fateh 11" type, and it is capable of carrying explosive warheads with a range of more than 300 kilometers.

Was it in response to attacking Natanz?

Since the Israeli attack on the Natanz facility, there have been mounting threats that Tehran will respond, because the attack crossed red lines, and a dangerous jump in the series of Israeli attacks that targeted Iran's nuclear project in recent years.

Therefore, the Israelis view what happened near the Dimona reactor as an Iranian message that their sensitive areas are not fortified, and targeting them is now possible and available, including the nuclear sites.

Did the attack reveal Israeli defensive flaws?

The most dangerous thing that the attack in Israel revealed was the blame directed at the military system, because it was unable to intercept the missile, although the Israeli army has the ability to do so, at least according to its claims.

At the same time, the Israeli military circles put the possibility that the interception system used by the army was not appropriate, and therefore the anti-aircraft missile was not hit, which requires an in-depth investigation into the reason for not being intercepted, and identifying the reasons for this deficiency at the technical and human levels.

Has Iran changed its policy towards Israeli strikes?

During the last three years, Israel has intensified its strikes against the Iranian nuclear project in the heart of Tehran on the one hand, and against the Iranian military presence in Syria on the other hand, within the strategy of "the battle between wars", without facing retaliatory responses from Iran and Syria, which encouraged it to intensify Its strikes against them reached 50 attacks in the year 2020 alone.

However, the recent attack on the area surrounding the Dimona reactor acquires an exceptional danger from the Israeli point of view for more than one reason. The first is that it breaks the rule of "striking absorption" that Iran and Syria have pursued, and the second is that it targeted a nuclear site to which no one of Israel's enemies has ever approached, and the third is that it carried An Iranian message that the "edge of the abyss" can be reached.

Did the attack constitute an exceptional danger to Israel?

The attack on the area surrounding the Dimona reactor comes as a historical precedent in Israel's military conflicts in the region, as the talk revolves around a secret nuclear facility, as part of the undeclared nuclear weapons program, which is home to several decades-old underground laboratories that were used to manufacture weapons for the Israeli nuclear bomb program.

Israel began building this nuclear site secretly in the late 1950s, with covert assistance from the French government, in an empty desert near Dimona, 90 kilometers south of occupied Jerusalem. International estimates suggest that Israel possesses more than 200 nuclear warheads.

What are the Israeli reactions?

While Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu remained silent until this moment, Israeli reactions continued, the most prominent of which was to Defense Minister Benny Gantz, who described the incident as "complicated", announcing that an investigation was being conducted into the failure of the interceptor.

While the former Minister of War and head of the "Israel Our Home" party Avigdor Lieberman commented that "we are witnessing a paralysis of the government, and the erosion of the Israeli deterrent force, because the event could have ended completely differently."

Israeli military circles also warned of the policy adopted recently by Netanyahu of breaking the "ambiguity" towards attacking Iranian sites, because it may cost Israel dearly, in terms of squeezing Iran into a corner and forcing it to respond and retaliate, and this culminated in attacking the Natanz nuclear facility, which represented The climax of the secret Israeli military operations against the Iranian nuclear project.

How will Israel respond?

Immediately after the missile was fired at the area around the Dimona nuclear reactor, the Israeli army struck several targets inside Syria.

However, it is not clear, after less than 24 hours, whether the Israeli response to attacking the area surrounding the Dimona nuclear reactor would be satisfied with a "symbolic" attack on sites in the Damascus countryside.

The talk is now about targeting one of the Israeli power centers, and a military penetration of what Israel considers its sovereign landmark.

What is the impact of the attack on the nuclear negotiations?

When reading this exceptional event, and its military and security implications, it is difficult for one not to take into account the temporal factor, as the attack is linked to the entry of the Vienna nuclear negotiations into a critical stage, which may leave its influence in one way or another on its course.

The attack on Dimona coincides with the ongoing preparations for a high-ranking Israeli military and security delegation to travel to Washington to warn it of the consequences of returning to the nuclear agreement, which means that this attack may constitute a provocative material for this delegation against Iran in the American administration.

This attack also comes after an American warning to Israel in recent days of increasing its "chatter" about the attacks on Iranian sites, which carried a harsh message from Washington to Tel Aviv.