Balloons with a possible explosive charge have been found in the city of Dimona, home to Israel’s secretive nuclear arms facility.

Israeli media reported on Thursday that police sappers had arrived at the scene in order to dispose of the “suspicious” object.

Dimona lies in heart of the Negev Desert, over 70 kilometers from the Gaza Strip.

The Tel Aviv regime is widely assumed to have produced nuclear weapons at the Dimona nuclear reactor, which was renamed after former Israeli president Shimon Peres in August 2018.

Israel is the only possessor of nuclear weapons in the Middle East, but maintains a policy of ambiguity, neither confirming nor denying its atomic bombs. But it is widely estimated to have between 200 and 400 atomic warheads in its arsenal.

The regime is not a signatory to the Treaty of the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT), whose aim is to prevent the spread of nuclear arms and weapons technology.