The International Atomic Energy Agency signed an agreement recognizing “Palestine” as a country, as it joined the nuclear watchdog on Tuesday as an observer.
Although it isn’t a member, it is allowed to attend meetings, said an IAEA spokesperson.
“The agreement, which was signed by the agency’s director general Yukiya Amano and the Palestinian Ambassador in Vienna Salah Abdul Shafi, gives the IAEA inspectors the ability to check the safety of radioactive materials and fissile nuclear materials, such as uranium,” reported The Jerusalem Post.
Although the Palestinian Authority has no nuclear reactors, “it does have physics departments in hospitals and universities, which have medical equipment containing components of nuclear materials,” according to the Post.
Israeli Foreign Ministry spokesman Emmanuel Nahshon labeled the agreement as a “violation of international conventions.”
He said “Israel does not recognize the attempts of the P.A. to join such organizations and such institutions as a state, and Israel views this as a violation of international agreements.”
