1 February 2001 (A/55/60, S/2001/98)
Letter sent by Dr. Nasser Al-Kidwa, Ambassador and Permanent
Observer of Palestine to the U.N., to the Secretary-General of the United
Nations, the President of the Security Council, and the President of the
General Assembly: (Israeli Uranium Use)
I wish to convey to you the serious concern of the
Palestinian leadership regarding the possible use by Israel, the occupying
Power, of depleted uranium shells against Palestinian targets, especially
during the more recent and intensified Israeli military campaign over the last
few months. Several reports have indicated that Israel has indeed used such
ammunition, which is suspected of causing grave diseases and which has
obviously caused great anxiety among the Palestinian people in the occupied
territory.
In this connection, on 30 January, the Israeli army issued a
press statement in which it stated that "the Israeli army has never utilized
these munitions against any civilian population." This language can only
indicated that the Israeli army does indeed possess this kind of ammunition in
its arsenal and that it has used it in the past. Further, the issue of
"civilian population" remains of matter of definition, as Israel has
repeatedly indicated in the past. In our opinion, this press statement alone
justifies raising the issue in a serious way and calls for field inspection by
appropriate, trained inspectors.
We call upon the Secretary-General of the United Nations, in
cooperation with the Security Council, to give this important matter the
necessary attention, including looking into the possibilities of the
above-mentioned inspection.