Israel to compensate UN for Gaza property damage
UNRWA commissioner-general says Israel agreed to pay compensations for UN buildings destroyed during IDF's Operation Cast Lead in Gaza. UN chief Ban Ki-moon seeking payment for damages estimated at $11 million
Israel has pledged to pay compensation for material damage it caused by shelling UN property during its Gaza offensive more than six months ago, a UN official said on Friday.
UNRWA Commissioner-General Karen AbuZayd said in Warsaw that Israel had indicated it would pay compensation for where UN buildings had been destroyed.
"So we are now in the process of negotiating and we are putting very clearly ... the value of the loss," AbuZayd said.
UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon has said he would seek compensation for damage estimated at more than $11 million.
Israel's offensive, cost the lives of more than 1,000 Palestinians, 10 Israel soldiers and three Israeli civilians.
An Amnesty International report on the Gaza offensive that was published on Thursday charged that Israeli forces killed hundreds of Palestinian civilians and destroyed thousands of Gaza Strip homes in attacks that amounted to war crimes.
Amnesty called on Israel to publicly pledge not to use artillery, white phosphorus and other imprecise weapons in densely populated areas. And it urged Gaza's Hamas rulers to stop rocket fire against Israeli civilians - attacks it also described as war crimes.
Amnesty - which first accused Israel of war crimes shortly after the fighting ended on January 18 - said "disturbing questions" remain about why high-precision weapons like tank shells and air-delivered bombs and missiles "killed so many children and other civilians."
AP contributed to the report
