New York, September 3, 2025 (WAL) – The American news agency Associated Press (AP) reported Wednesday that construction activity has intensified at a major facility suspected to be part of the Israeli occupation’s long-suspected nuclear program, according to satellite images analyzed by experts.

The agency stated that experts say it could be a new reactor or a nuclear weapons assembly facility, but the secrecy surrounding the program makes it difficult to confirm.

It added that work at the Shimon Peres Nuclear Research Center in the Negev, near the city of Dimona, will renew questions about Israel’s status, widely believed to be the only nuclear state in the Middle East, especially after Israeli and US strikes on nuclear sites across Iran in June 2025.

AP quoted seven experts who examined the images as believing that the construction is linked to the long-suspected Israeli nuclear weapons program due to its proximity to the Dimona reactor, where there is no civilian power plant, but they were divided on the nature of the new construction.

Three of them said the location, size, and the fact that the area under construction appears multi-storied means the most likely explanation is the building of a new heavy water reactor, which can produce plutonium and another key material for nuclear weapons.

The other four acknowledged it could be a heavy water reactor but also pointed out the work might be related to a new nuclear weapons assembly facility, refusing to make a definitive judgment as the construction is still in its early stages.

It is worth noting that the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute previously stated its belief that the Israelis have recently been updating their nuclear weapons systems and have upgraded production facilities in southern occupied Palestine.