'Israel' owns 90 nuclear warheads: ICAN
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The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons estimates that "Israel" is in possession of at least 90 nuclear warheads in its arsenal, based on deductions from increased nuclear spending.
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In this file photo taken June 25, 2014, an inert Minuteman 3 missile is seen in a training launch tube at Minot Air Force Base, North Dakota. (AP)
The International Campaign to Abolish Nuclear Weapons (ICAN) revealed that "Israel" possesses 90 nuclear warheads and was boosting its nuclear spending.
In a report examining expenditures on nuclear development, ICAN found that the Israeli occupation has increased its nuclear spending by 2.4%, the equivalent of 1.1 billion dollars per year.
Collective nuclear spending reached 13.4% last year, or 91.4 billion dollars around the world. The United States held first place, spending 51.5 billion dollars on nuclear development, garnering 80% of collective nuclear expenditures.
In a statement to Al Mayadeen, Alicia Sanders-Zakre, the Policy and Research Coordinator at ICAN, discussed "Israel's" ambiguity regarding its nuclear arsenal.
According to Sanders-Zakre, it is known among international nuclear experts that the Israeli occupation possesses nuclear weapons. According to ICAN's estimations, 90 nuclear warheads were identified to be owned by "Israel", but the number remains obscure due to the lack of transparency and Tel Aviv's obscurity regarding owning any nuclear weapons.
Regarding "Israel's" nuclear spending, ICAN managed to deduce the estimations by referring to the occupation's military spending in 2023, which was discussed with Israeli experts to allocate the actual military spending [taking into consideration additional spending due to the war on Gaza]. An estimation was then formed and allocated to Israeli nuclear spending.
Sanders-Zakre also expressed her concerns regarding recent Israeli threats to use nuclear weapons in Gaza.
"There have been extremely concerning threats that have been increasingly implied and frank than what we've seen in previous years from Israeli experts, officials, or former officials, which is why it is important to condemn the use of nuclear weapons and prompt a reminder about the vitality of adhering to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty," she said.
Estimations are much higher than 90 warheads
Regarding its possession of nuclear weapons, "Israel" has adopted a policy of deliberate ambiguity, refusing to disclose whether or not it possesses nuclear weapons. However, the occupation's possession of such weapons is now a "public secret", especially since a number of formerly highly classified US documents have revealed that the US was convinced that "Israel" had nuclear weapons.
It is worth noting that the entity is estimated by some to possess between 200 to 400 nuclear warheads, making it the sole possessor of non-conventional arms in the Middle East. Despite international pressure, "Israel" has refused to allow inspections of its nuclear facilities or to sign the Non-Proliferation Treaty (NPT).
In 2022, the First Committee of the UN General Assembly ruled in a 152-5 decision that "Israel" must destroy all its nuclear weapons and submit its nuclear facilities to the control of the International Atomic Energy Agency.
Four countries - Canada, Micronesia, Palau, and the United States - as well as the Israeli entity, opposed Friday's resolution on the "risk of nuclear proliferation in the Middle East." Another 24 countries abstained, including European Union members.
The resolution discloses that "Israel" is the only entity in the Middle East region and one of the few UN members (193 total) that have not signed the Treaty on the Non-Proliferation of Nuclear Weapons (NPT).
The resolution reaffirmed "the importance of Israel’s accession to the NPT and placement of all its nuclear facilities under comprehensive international atomic Energy Nancy safeguards, in realizing the goal of universal adherence to the Treaty in the Middle East."
