<?xml version="1.0" encoding="UTF-8" standalone="yes"?><oembed><version><![CDATA[1.0]]></version><provider_name><![CDATA[Occupied Palestine | فلسطين]]></provider_name><provider_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com]]></provider_url><author_name><![CDATA[occupiedpalestine]]></author_name><author_url><![CDATA[https://occupiedpalestine.wordpress.com/author/hajarhajar/]]></author_url><title><![CDATA[&#8216;Israeli reactor linked to WB&nbsp;deaths&#8217;]]></title><type><![CDATA[link]]></type><html><![CDATA[<div id="divNewsDetail">
<div id="divNewsDatetime">PressTV -Wed Jan 19, 2011 3:41PM</div>
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<p><img src="https://i0.wp.com/previous.presstv.ir/photo/20110119/moghimi20110119154108153.jpg" alt="" width="450px" height="300px" /></p>
<div id="divImageDesc">A view of Israel&#8217;s Dimona nuclear reactor</div>
<div id="divLead">Dramatic  increases in cancer cases, sterility and abnormal births in south of  the West Bank is said to be linked to a uranium leak at the Dimona  nuclear power plant.</div>
<p>In villages located in the south of the West Bank, cancer cases,  sterility and mental disorders have surged, particularly in the Avaria  village, which has a population of over 35,000 people. International  scientists have investigated the anomaly to find out the reason is  behind it.</p>
<p>“During the past 20 years, there has been a sharp increase in  Thyroid disorders, sterility, abnormal births and cancer cases,” Mahmoud  Sa&#8217;adeh, of the 10,000 strong International Physicians for the  Prevention of Nuclear War, said in an interview with Press TV.</p>
<p>&#8220;One case was an 11-year-old boy who developed heart cancer. This  disease happens to one out of one hundred million people so is extremely  rare. The boy died recently,” he said.</p>
<p>The group, with the help of Al-Khalil (Hebron) University, has  studied the possible impacts of Israel&#8217;s Dimona reactor, located in the  Negev desert some 30km away from Avaria village.</p>
<p>Governor of al-Khalil Kamel Hemed said, “Last year we killed over  2,000 dogs in our region. They were not behaving normally and were very  aggressive and huge in size.”</p>
<p>“We do not own the needed technologies to investigate the matter and  we are also banned from traveling to the border areas. We have asked  international organizations to intervene”, he added.</p>
<p>Uranium in the area has been tested at ten times the permitted  concentration by Al-Khalil University. The elements of thorium and  cesium follow the same pattern of results. Cesium only emerges from  nuclear explosions or nuclear activities and is 12 to 30 times the  permitted concentration in five local villages of Palestine.</p>
<p>“The nuclear waste from Dimona power plant is buried under  Palestinian state land and in some cases under Israeli settlements. In a  nearby settlement, there are at least 20 cancer cases. They are too  afraid to speak out. Every person over there gets around USD 20,000  dollars a month from the Israeli government in order to stay silent,”  Sa&#8217;adeh said.</p>
<p>“Israel pays USD11 per barrel to bury waste in this way. It would  cost them over USD 5,000 per barrel if it was lawfully disposed of in  other countries like Mauritania or Somalia,” he added.</p>
<p>It has also been observed that the surrounding area currently has an  unbalanced ecological system where reptiles and plants are almost gone,  replaced by an increase in cockroaches, scorpions and other insects  known to be able to resist radiation.</p>
<p>The Israeli government is believed to be fully aware of the  situation as in 2004 it started to deliver radiation tablets to Bedouins  of the desert.</p>
<p>It was out of the Dimona plant in 1986 that whistleblower and  nuclear scientist Mordechai Vanunu came to tell the world that Israel  had secret nuclear weapons programs.</p>
<p>The international community has for decades turned a blind eye to  the issue, but scientists are now concerned that the Israeli program  risks creating a second Chernobyl catastrophe. Israel refuses to allow  IAEA inspectors to enter the facility.</p>
<p>The nuclear reactor has become very old after 48 years, with experts  warning of leakage into some Israeli and Palestinian territories,  reaching Jordan, Syria, Egypt and going as far as Libya.</p>
<p>SC/CS/AKM</p>
<p><a href="http://www.presstv.ir/detail/160945.html">PressTV &#8211; &#8216;Israeli reactor linked to WB deaths&#8217;</a>.</p>
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