VP/HR — Gaza Strip and bombs with depleted uranium

3.3.2015

Question for written answer E-003481-15
to the Commission (Vice-President/High Representative)
Rule 130
Miguel Viegas (GUE/NGL)

There is now enough convincing data to prove that Israel has repeatedly used depleted uranium weaponry. Such was the case in the large-scale massacre that took place in the Gaza Strip in August 2014.

These weapons cause cancers and foetal malformations in the populations affected, which may take on epidemic proportions. In Iraq, in the city of Fallujah, where these bombs were launched in industrial quantities by the International Coalition led by the United States, 52% of children today are born with deformities.

The lethal effects of radioactivity caused by explosions and subsequent fires, including cancer of the lungs and pleura, can persist for centuries in the environment and particularly in aquifers. We are therefore on the verge of another humanitarian catastrophe in Palestine and in particular in the Gaza Strip, where thousands of tons of depleted uranium bombs were dropped with the effects that have already been documented.

In view of this situation, what is the Vice-President/High Representative thinking of doing to pressure Israel into assuming its responsibilities for this crime against humanity, and what help can the Vice-President/High Representative offer to the Palestinian authorities to carry out epidemiological monitoring, which also includes all EU citizens who have moved to the territory since then?