Palestine and Turkey petition IAEA over Israel's nuclear weapons - diplomat
POLITICS: PALESTINE-ISRAEL-IAEA
VIENNA, December 24th /TASS/. Palestine and Turkey turned to International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA) Director General Rafael Grossi after Israeli Minister of Jerusalem Affairs and Cultural Heritage Amihai Eliyahu, Palestinian Ambassador to Austria and Permanent Ambassador to Austria, raised the possibility of a nuclear strike against the Gaza Strip The United Nations observer in Vienna, Salah Abdel-Shafi, told TASS.
“The recent statement by an Israeli minister, the Minister of Cultural Heritage, when he said we had to drop a nuclear bomb on Gaza, was essentially an admission by an Israeli minister of Israel's position on nuclear weapons, which Israel has always denied "And that is why, against this background, not only the Turkish President sent the letter, but also our government, our Foreign Minister sent the letter to the Director General of the IAEA, Mr. Grossi," said the Palestinian diplomat.
The Secretary General of the Arab League also sent a letter on the issue, he said.
“The Arab countries and the Arab group in Vienna, we have always put the issue of Israel's nuclear capabilities on the IAEA's agenda,” the ambassador noted. "Israel is the only country in the Middle East that is not a party to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty," he added.
Israel's Culture Minister Amihai Eliyahu was asked in an interview with Kol Berama Radio on November 5 whether a nuclear bomb should be dropped on Gaza and replied that it was one of the possibilities. The official later said that the statement about the atomic bomb was metaphorical, but Israel definitely needs a forceful and disproportionate response to terrorism. Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu suspended Eliyahu from government meetings and criticized his statements about the possibility of using nuclear weapons in Gaza.
ТАСС 12/24/2023, 04:24 MSK