The number of cancer patients has been climbing in Gaza due to the use of depleted uranium by the Israeli military during its onslaught on the impoverished enclave two years ago, medical sources say.
After the war, cancer cases have reportedly increased by about 30 percent in Gaza, Press TV correspondent reported on Thursday.
“We have seen a sharp increase in blood cancer and other types of the diseases. Many patients come from the areas that were attacked by Israeli fighter jets using banned chemical weapons,” Oncologist Mohammed Atteya said.
Shifa hospital, Gaza’s major health provider, has witnessed a sharp rise recently in the number of cancer patients.
Doctors say that most cancer patients reside in areas that were heavily bombed during Israel’s onslaught on Gaza in the winter of 2008-2009.
The war left about 1,400 Palestinians dead and thousands injured; the majority of victims were civilians.
At the time, Norwegian doctors volunteering in Gaza hospitals said some victims had traces of depleted uranium in their bodies.
Environmental damage and pollution is another unfortunate byproduct of the war.
Post-war measurements suggest some areas in the enclave are 1,000 times more radioactive than natural levels, and cancer cases have begun to emerge on a daily basis.
“The number of cancer patients has gone up significantly. Israel used depleted, white phosphorous against the city. The city became a testing ground for all these banned weapons,” environmental expert Zekra Ajour.
A common denominator among cancer patients is that they lived in areas that were badly bombed.
The majority of high tech weapons today contain depleted uranium and/or other Heavy Metals.
The residue of a depleted uranium weapon can be spread by the wind, infecting residents in the immediate vicinity and contaminating the food chain.
According to medical and environmental experts, the Gaza strip’s environment and population will suffer the grave consequences of Israel’s use of internationally banned weapons during the war.
(Press TV)
