IAEA to investigate Israeli uranium use

The UN nuclear watchdog says it will open an investigation into Israel's alleged use of depleted uranium during its Gaza offensive.

The UN body responded on Wednesday after Arab nations sent a letter to the Head of the International Atomic Energy Agency, Mohamed ElBaradei, asking for a probe into the issue.

In a letter on behalf of Arab ambassadors, Saudi envoy Prince Mansour Al-Saoud expressed "deep concern regarding the information ... that traces of depleted uranium have been found in Palestinian victims."

"We are circulating the letter to member states and will investigate the matter to the extent of our ability," IAEA spokeswoman Melissa Fleming said on Wednesday.

The exact course of action will be decided after member states have been consulted, the UN agency said.

Israeli ambassador to the IAEA, Israel Michaeli, declined to comment.

Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Yigal Palmor, however, said "I deny this completely," adding that such allegations were "no more than a recurring motif of anti-Israel propaganda".

An IAEA article on the issue says that while depleted uranium "is assumed to be potentially carcinogenic ... the lack of evidence for a definite cancer risk in studies over many decades is significant and should put the results of assessments in perspective."

Still, according to the article, "there is a risk of developing cancer from exposure to radiation emitted by ... depleted uranium. This risk is assumed to be proportional to the dose received."

Human rights groups and foreign officials have hit out at Israel over its suspected use of a number of controversial weapons during its aerial, naval and ground assault on the Palestinian territory.

Amnesty International and Human Rights Watch, along with the United Nations relief agency in Gaza, have said there is widespread evidence of Israel's use of white phosphorus bombs during its offensive against the coastal sliver.

London-based human rights group Amnesty International said on Tuesday that Israel's use of white phosphorus in Gaza's densely-populated urban neighborhoods constitutes a "war crime".

Israel had previously rejected reports that the chemical was used in the territory, and claimed that all weapons used were legal under international law.

However Haaretz newspaper reported on Wednesday, that Israel would start an inquiry to focus on the alleged firing of about 20 phosphorus shells around the northern town of Beit Lahiya by Israeli paratroopers.