

Dimona’s Buried Nuclear Waste Spreads Cancer and Sterility in Southern Hebron and Negev GAZA, July 6, 2004 (IPC + Agencies) - - Nearly 70 cancer cases and the sterile rate soared to 62% among males and females in the villages south of Hebron was mainly caused by the nuclear waste buried by Israel in Hebron's mountains. Many physicians and officials south of Hebron City, adjacent to the Negev Desert, warned of the growing number of people afflicted with cancer and attributed the cause to the nuclear radioactive wind the region. The Palestinian villages located south of Hebron's mountains witnessed a growing number of cancer cases and unprecedented mutation rates as most of the specialists said that it is likely due to environmental pollution. The professor (Y.A) of physics and a specialist of atomic science said that the air in southern Hebron is contaminated by the nuclear radioactive leakage as the area is very close to the Israeli Dimona reactor and to the nuclear waste dumps in the area. There are no cement blocks around the reactor operating to lower the hazardous impacts of such high radioactivity. The professor recited the case of his mother who died of visceral cancer, and after a check up, the cause was mainly due the high rates of radioactive elements. The radioactivity has a tremendous power that could penetrates to the genes of the human, affecting the chromosome that are inherited generation after generation. Dr. Mahmoud Sa’ada, the co-founder of the Palestinian Medical Relief, was quoted by the Al Nakab daily as saying, “I am a general physician who has been working for 30 years in Al Thaheryia adjacent to Hebron and I could ascertain that during the last years most of the cancer cases has no other diagnosis but nuclear radioactivity.” He added, “now there are 70 cancer cases in Al Thaheryia admitted to Beit Jala hospital. Recently, a baby was born with red colored half face, and after examining each case it’s hardly to attribute the case to inherited deformations.” Meanwhile, the rate of sterility has been notably increased to 62% in the villages south of Hebron due to the radioactivity. Israel has always had a policy of nuclear ambiguity, saying only that it will not be the first country to introduce nuclear weapons to the region.

Late of last June, the Israeli cabinet approved to distribute iodine-based tablets to people living near the Israeli nuclear reactors to give them some protection in case of radioactive leakage. The pills were to be given to people living near the Dimona reactor, in the southern Negev Desert and those close to the Nahal Sorek nuclear plant, southwest of Jerusalem, officials said on condition of anonymity. I srael has had nuclear technology for decades but refused to comment on reports of obtaining nuclear weapons. In 1986, former Dimona technician Mordechai Vanunu provided photographs and descriptions of the reactor to The Sunday Times magazine in London. Based on Vanunu's material, experts said at the time that Israel has the world's sixth-largest stockpile of nuclear weapons. The Director of the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA), Dr. Mohamed ElBaradei, is due to arrive in Israel on Tuesday to discuss a nuclear-free Middle East but the Israeli Prime Minister Ariel Sharon said earlier today that Israel has no intentions of deviating from its present nuclear policy. Sharon spoke to the Israeli Army radio hours before the visit of IAEA director, where he said that Israel's 'nondisclosure' policy would be maintained and that Israel has all the weapons it needs to protect itself. Related links: Dimona Reactor… a Mystery Threatening the Middle East