CONSEQUENCES OF ISRAELI WEAPONS TESTING ON GAZA

This piece concerns itself with the effects of weaponry on the Palestine people. But it matters not  upon whom or where these hellish weapons of genocidal destruction are used, there is no argument in their favour. Never. Never. Never. Anyone who denies their effects is simply lying and either stupid or of a criminality level that exists so far beyond the pale of decency and truth that they deserve being taken out behind the barn and humanity put out of the misery he represents.

14 March 2011

War induced environmental threats continue to confrontithe population of Gaza: Health hazards resulting from the fractured sewage system caused by the bombings and toxic radiation contamination caused by Depleted Uranium (DU) and other Heavy Metal weaponry are manifesting at a staggering speed.

To top it all, unlike the dysfunctional sewage system that gave rise to waterborne diseases, DU contamination is irreversible and the effect is prolonged for at least hundreds of generations. A contaminated man will pass it to his spouse, who will then pass it to her child and that leads to his or her child and it goes on and on. The most calamitous aspect of DU contamination is the birth of stillborn or disfigured babies.

DU is the waste product of the nuclear industry and is disposed free of charge to weapon manufacturers. Both DU and heavy metals have the ability to kill indiscriminately.

Despite the denials put forth by Israel, it is a known fact that her military used DU and other heavy metals most liberally in its weaponry during the December 2009-January 2010 onslaught on the Gaza Strip. This is an international crime of giant proportions and it violates all international conventions on humanity, and it is morally incumbent upon the world community to aid the Gazans and institute efforts to punish the perpetrators.

Upon hitting a target, 70% of the depleted uranium burns and oxidizes, bursting into tiny highly toxic, radioactive micro particles which can be ingested or inhaled. DU dust is deposited on the ground and seeps into the soil contaminating groundwater supplies or is carried away by the wind. Experts state that DU dust are trapped in the Earth’s atmosphere and air currents will cause the regions near DU contaminated areas to be vulnerable to radiation.

It is radiation alpha particles from DU that runs rife inside your body and the rate and type of “Cancer” is subject to if it is inhaled or ingested.

When DU explodes, the core temperature reaches extremely high levels around 5,000 degrees Celsius creating miniature atomic weapons. Some dust particles settle in the crater and its vicinity whilst others escape into Earth’s atmosphere. It takes only one single alpha particle from a uranium atom to start the cancer process.

People in the area are dying of blood cancer caused by depleted uranium and medical experts are reporting a 30% increase in mortality rates due to radiation exposure. Children are born deformed and numbers of illnesses such as diabetes and infertility in Gaza are on the rise. The local health authorities are helpless because of the lack of facilities in Gaza due to Israel’s closure policy.

Richard Lightbown argues that Israel’s use of depleted uranium, white phosphorus and other toxic metals in its war on the people of the Gaza Strip has put the whole of the Strip’s population and its environment ~ air, soil, groundwater and possibly seawater ~ at risk of serious long-term injury and contamination.

Press TV on 4 March 2011 reported that cancer cases in Gaza had increased by 30 per cent, and that there was a link between the occurrence of the disease and residence in areas that had been badly hit by Israeli bombing. Zekra Ajour from the Al-Dameer Association for Human Rights told the channel that Gaza had been a testing ground for illegal weapons.

BIRTH DEFECTS

On 20 December 2009 Al-Dameer had published another paper in Arabic on the increase in the number of babies born in Gaza with birth defects, thought to be the result of radioactive and toxic materials from Operation Cast Lead. ~ The birth defects included incomplete hearts and malformations of the brain. During August, September and October 2008 the number of cases had been 27. In the comparable months in 2009 the numbers had risen to 47. There was a similar rise in aborted foetuses. Al-Dameer had called for scientific monitoring throughout the Gaza Strip to obtain statistics on deformed foetus cases relating to the intentional use of internationally banned weapons.

Similar dramatic increases in birth defects over a longer period have been recorded in Iraq and have been linked to widespread use of depleted uranium (DU) weapons.

(It is reported that local midwives no longer look forward to births as they don’t know what is going to come out.)

DEPLETED URANIUM

“Depleted uranium burns at almost 1200 degrees Celsius. (TNT by comparison burns at 576 degrees Celsius.) At this temperature the fire vaporizes any metals in the target which in combination with uranium are released into the air in aerosol form. After deposition the aerosols have the potential to contaminate groundwater.”

Although the epidemiologist Professor Alastair Hay told the BBC in March 2010 that it was difficult to suggest any particular cause for the trend, scientific data has been published which contradicts his opinion. A review in Environmental Health in 2005 concluded by saying:

Regarding the teratogenicity of parental prenatal exposure to DU aerosols, the evidence, albeit imperfect, indicates a high probability of substantial risk. Good science indicates that depleted uranium weapons should not be manufactured or exploded.

When later asked in the same interview about white phosphorus, Prof. Hay had replied;

…phosphorus is an essential element in our bodies and so you would I think have to ingest a huge amount to cause any particular problem. But there has been no investigation anywhere that I am aware of to link phosphorus with health problems…

Apparently the professor has not read the Goldstone Report of the previous year which states in paragraph 896:

Apparently the shilling “good” professor is a shield to the truth, a misinformant and utterly without conscience.  He is also the worst kind of fool insisting upon empirical evidence scientifically produces when the truth of the matter is right in front of his lying eyes.  Who pays him to ignore the following report from the American Army?

A 1995 technical report issued by the American Army indicates that “if depleted uranium enters the body, it has the potentiality of causing serious medical consequences. The associated risk is both chemical and radiological”. Deposited in the lungs or kidneys, uranium 238 and products from its decay (thorium 234, protactinium and other uranium isotopes) give off alpha and beta radiations which cause cell death and genetic mutations causing cancer in exposed individuals and genetic abnormalities in their descendants.

Medical staff reported to the mission how even working in the areas where the phosphorus had been used made them feel sick, their lips would swell and they would become extremely thirsty and nauseous.

The toxicity of phosphorus is also recorded in a report by New York medical staff:

Oral ingestion of white phosphorus in humans has been demonstrated to result in pathologic changes to the liver and kidneys.

The ingestion of a small quantity of white phosphorus can cause gastrointestinal complaints such as nausea, abdominal cramps, and vomiting. Individuals with a history of oral ingestion have been noted to pass phosphorus-laden stool (“smoking stool syndrome”).

The accepted lethal dose is 1 mg/kg, although the ingestion of as little as 15 mg has resulted in death.

The United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) reported that breathing white phosphorus for long periods causes “phossy jaw”, a condition in which there is poor wound healing of the mouth and breakdown of the jawbone.

DEPLETED URANIUM IN US-SUPPLIED BUNKER-BUSTER BOMBS

Evidence of the use of depleted uranium against Gaza is tenuous and Goldstone merely recorded in paragraph 907 that it had received allegations which it had not further investigated. Much of this evidence came from Action des citoyens pour le désarmement nucléaire (ACDN: Citizens Action for Nuclear Disarmament). Their report of July 2009 hypothesizes that the GBU-39 bunker-buster bomb is packed with 75 kilogram of depleted uranium. (A UNEP report also ambiguously refers to bunker-buster bombs containing depleted uranium.)

The US delivery of 1,000 of these bombs to Israel arrived in early December 2008 shortly before the start of the war. The GBU-39 is considered one of the world’s most precise bombs and Boeing, the manufacturer, claims that the bomb will penetrate three feet of steel-reinforced concrete. (UNEP suggests that it can penetrate reinforced concrete to depths ranging from 1.8 to over 6 metres.) Boeing’s patent on the weapon mentions depleted uranium.

It is not known how many bunker-buster bombs were used against Gaza but it seems reasonable to assume that the number could run into hundreds. It is thought that they were used mostly in the Philadelphia corridor against the tunnels. Desmond Travers, the former Irish army officer who was a member of the Goldstone Commission, would only say that depleted uranium may have been used during the war, although he did agree that it would have been well suited for attacking the tunnels where maximum penetration would have been desired. 

He was also in agreement with ACDN that the use of below-ground targets would have considerably reduced the levels of aerosol uranium that was dispersed into the air.

Col Raymond Lane, who is chief instructor of ordnance with the Irish armed forces, gave testimony to the Goldstone Commission on weapons used in the Gaza conflict. He told the commission that he had no expertise of depleted uranium and so had not investigated it. He gave no reason for his failure to bring in specialist expertise to investigate the subject.

In April 2009 Jean-François Fechino from ACDN was part of a four-person team which went to Gaza for the Arab Commission for Human Rights. Samples that the team brought back were analyzed by a specialist laboratory which identified carcinogens: depleted uranium, caesium, asbestos dust, tungsten and aluminium oxide. Thorium oxide was also found, which is radioactive, as are depleted uranium and caesium. The analysis also identified phosphates and copper, along with volatile organic compounds (VOCs) which are a health hazard, especially to children, asthmatics and elders.

Depleted uranium burns at almost 1200 degrees Celsius. (TNT by comparison burns at 576 degrees Celsius.) At this temperature the fire vaporizes any metals in the target which in combination with uranium are released into the air in aerosol form. After deposition the aerosols have the potential to contaminate groundwater. (The Gaza aquifer, which is the Strip’s only water source, is also connected to ground water supplies in Egypt, although water only flows into Gaza from Israel.)

There is empirical documentation that the aerosols can travel up to 42 Km and theoretical documentation that they can travel further. Sderot is about 43 kilometres from the Philadelphia corridor and less than five kilometres from Beit Hanoun. In consequence, it may be that the activities of Israel’s air force have created a greater threat to the Israeli city than all of the 8,000 well-publicized rockets from Gaza ever have.

Depleted uranium accumulation has been recorded in the bone, kidney, reproductive system, brain and lung. It is carcinogenic, toxic to the kidneys, damaging to cellular DNA and causes malformations to an embryo or foetus.

WHITE PHOSPHORUS

“Doctors found that when they removed bandages applied to a wound that still contained fragments of white phosphorous, smoke would come from the wound since the chemical continues to burn as long as it is in contact with oxygen.”

Although an Israeli army spokesman told CNN on 7 January 2009, “I can tell you with certainty that white phosphorus is absolutely not being used.” the chemical had been used by Israeli forces since the beginning of the war. 

The Goldstone Report stated that Israeli sources later claimed their forces had stopped using white phosphorous on 7 January 2009 because of international concerns.

This was also untrue as there is evidence that it had been used after that date. Goldstone declared the Israeli armed forces to have been “systematically reckless” in using white phosphorous in built-up areas (paragraphs 884, 886 and 890).

Difficulty in detecting the extent of damage to tissue and organs gave serious problems to medical staff trying to treat white phosphorus injuries. Several patients died as a result. Doctors found that when they removed bandages applied to a wound that still contained fragments of white phosphorous, smoke would come from the wound since the chemical continues to burn as long as it is in contact with oxygen. White phosphorous sticks to tissue so that all flesh and sometimes muscle around the burn would have to be cut out. The substance is also highly toxic (Goldstone paragraphs 892/4/5/6).

An article published in The Lancet included photographs of a young man who was admitted to hospital in Gaza with white phosphorous burns on 30 per cent of his body. The day after admission smoke was noticed coming from the wounds and the patient was rapidly transferred to the operating room for removal of dead tissue and removal of white phosphorus particles. During the operation a particle of the chemical was dislodged and caused a superficial burn on a nurse’s neck. The patient survived.

Col Lane testified that although white phosphorus gave the best quality of smoke for military purposes it was “horrible stuff” and the Irish army had stopped using it 20 years previously. He recounted how the British army had sea-dumped quantities of the material off the coast of southwest Scotland in the 1950s, some of which had been washed up on the coast of Ireland by a storm in 2007. It had ignited on drying (the colonel had witnessed this himself) and in one instance a child had suffered burns as a result.

OTHER TOXIC MATERIALS

Mass spectrometry analysis conducted by the New Weapons Research Group (NWRG) found aluminium, titanium, strontium, barium, cobalt and mercury in biopsies taken from white phosphorus wounds at Shifaa Hospital, Gaza. (Aluminium, barium and mercury have potential for lethal and intoxicating effects; aluminium and mercury can cause chronic pathologies over time; mercury is carcinogenic for humans; cobalt can cause mutations; and aluminium is fetotoxic, i.e. injurious to foetuses.)

White phosphorus bombs are built with alternating sectors of white phosphorus and aluminium. Analysis by NWRC of the powder from a shell near Al-Wafa Hospital in Gaza also found high levels of molybdenum, tungsten and mercury. 

Tungsten and mercury are carcinogenic, while molybdenum is toxic to sperms.

(Mutation and reduced sperm production ~ more proof that, when combined, are ideal for committing genocide.)

In a report appropriately entitled “Gaza Strip, soil has been contaminated due to bombings: population in danger”, NWRG also conducted analyses of two craters caused by bombs in 2006 and two others by bombs in 2009. In the 2006 craters they identified tungsten, mercury and molybdenum, while in the 2009 craters at Tufah they discovered molybdenum, cadmium, cobalt, nickel, manganese, copper and zinc. Cadmium and some nickel and manganese compounds are carcinogenic.

NWRG has further conducted research of hair samples from 95 children resident in heavily bombed areas of Gaza. Again using mass spectrometry the study identified the carcinogenic or toxic metals chromium, cadmium, cobalt, tungsten and uranium. One wounded individual also had unusually high levels of lead. The study found the results alarming and considered the levels could be pathogenic in situations of chronic exposure. Thirty-nine of the examinees were recommended for further checks.

DIME WEAPONS, SOIL CONTAMINATION AND CANCER

“DIME bombs cause a high proportion of amputations particularly of legs, while patients often suffered internal burns as well.”

It has been reported that soil in the area of a DIME (dense inert metal explosive) bomb blast may remain barren for an indefinite period of time because of contamination from heavy metal tungsten alloy. The same material in trial rapidly caused tumours in 100 per cent of rats when used at both low and high doses, with the tumours spreading to the lungs, necessitating euthanasia.

DIME weapons were first used against Gaza by Israeli drones in the summer of 2006, when Palestinian medical personnel reported that it significantly increased the fatality rate among victims. Shortly after the DIME weapons were also tested during the first week of the war in Lebanon in July 2006.

The Goldstone Commission was unable to confirm that DIME munitions were used by Israeli forces during Operation Cast Lead. Col Lane had told the commission in testimony that there was no actual proof. He then went on to testify that he had been given samples in Gaza which analysis in Dublin had shown to contain DIME materials consisting mostly of tungsten with traces of iron and sulphur.

He was of the opinion that ordnance had been used that had some sort of DIME component. He also mentioned that he had read of unusual amputations, and that tungsten and cobalt would have this effect. Weaponry had been found with DIME components which was capable of amputation and there are Palestinian amputees, yet neither Col Lane nor the commission was prepared to say that DIME weapons had been used by Israeli forces.

DIME bombs cause a high proportion of amputations particularly of legs, while patients often suffered internal burns as well. The bombs consist of powdered tungsten alloy mixed with an explosive material inside a casing which disintegrates on explosion. The tungsten powder tears apart anything it hits including soft tissue and bone, causing very severe injuries. Tungsten alloy particles, described as “finely powdered micro-shrapnel”, are too small to be extracted from the victim’s body and are highly carcinogenic. (Goldstone, paragraphs 902-4)

No weapons fragments can be found from DIME bombs with standard diagnostic resources, despite the indication of heavy metals from this type of injuries. Mass spectrometry analyses by NWRG of biopsies from amputation injuries revealed aluminium, titanium, copper, strontium, barium, cobalt, mercury, vanadium, caesium, tin, arsenic, manganese, rubidium, cadmium, chromium, zinc and nickel. 

 

Doctors reported that it was difficult to determine the extent of dead tissue (which it is vital to remove). This resulted in higher rates of deep infection, subsequent amputation and higher mortality.

The wide range of heavy metals discovered by analysis in casualties, residents and soil in Gaza suggests that other unidentified weapons may have also been tested. (The Sensor Fuzed Weapon has been suggested as one such technological perversion that the Israeli forces may have used.)

The whole Gaza population and their environment, including generations yet to be conceived, have been put at risk of serious long-term injury from heavy metal pollution of the air, soil and groundwater (and possibly the seawater too), while the causal pollution is likely to cross state borders into Egypt and even into Israel.

Reassurances of the legitimate and responsible use and the reduced lethality of weapons (an opinion in part shared by Col Lane) are callous and inadequate in the context of the dangerous reality that has resulted.

Meanwhile, the impacts of Israel’s illegal assaults on Gaza remain ignored and its deeds uncensored by the wider international community.

War induced environmental threats confronting the population of Gaza: Health hazards resulting from the fractured sewage system caused by the bombings and toxic radiation contamination caused by Depleted Uranium (DU) and other Heavy Metal weaponry, are manifesting at a staggering speed.

People in the area are dying of blood cancer caused by depleted uranium and medical experts are reporting a 30% increase in mortality rates due to radiation exposure. Children are born deformed and numbers of illnesses such as diabetes and infertility in Gaza are on the rise. The local health authorities are helpless because of the lack of facilities in Gaza due to Israel’s closure policy.

To top it all, unlike the dysfunctional sewage system that gave rise to waterborne diseases, DU contamination is irreversible and the effect is prolonged for many generations. A contaminated man will pass it to his spouse, who will then pass it to her child and that leads to his or her child and it goes on and on. The most calamitous aspect of DU contamination is the birth of stillborn or disfigured babies.

The majority of high tech weapons today contain Depleted Uranium or other Heavy Metals or both. These weapons are coated in DU or have both DU and Heavy Metal in their warheads. DU is also used as a counterweight for war machinery.

DU is the waste product of the nuclear industry and is disposed free of charge to weapon manufacturers. Both DU and heavy metals have the ability to kill indiscriminately.

Upon hitting a target, 70% of the depleted uranium burns and oxidizes, bursting into tiny highly toxic, radioactive micro particles which can be ingested or inhaled. DU dust is deposited on the ground and seeps into the soil contaminating groundwater supplies or is carried away by the wind. Experts state that DU dust are trapped in the Earth’s atmosphere and air currents will cause the regions near DU contaminated areas to be vulnerable to radiation.

A 1995 technical report issued by the American Army indicates that “if depleted uranium enters the body, it has the potentiality of causing serious medical consequences. The associated risk is both chemical and radiological”. Deposited in the lungs or kidneys, uranium 238 and products from its decay (thorium 234, protactinium and other uranium isotopes) give off alpha and beta radiations which cause cell death and genetic mutations causing cancer in exposed individuals and genetic abnormalities in their descendants.

It is radiation alpha particles from DU that runs rife inside your body and the rate and type of “Cancer” is subject to if it is inhaled or ingested.

When DU explodes, the core temperature reaches extremely high levels around 5,000 degrees Celsius creating miniature atomic weapons. Some dust particles settle in the crater and its vicinity whilst others escape into Earth’s atmosphere. It takes only one single alpha particle from a uranium atom to start the cancer process.

It’s a known fact that Israel used DU and other heavy metals in its weaponry during the December 2009-January 2010 onslaught on the Gaza Strip. 

This is an international crime of giant proportions and it violates all international conventions on humanity, and it is morally incumbent upon the world community to aid the Gazans and institute efforts to punish the perpetrators