Israel to Pay U.N. $10.5 Million for Gaza Damage

Wall Street Journal
By JOSHUA MITNICK and JOE LAURIA

UNITED NATIONS -- A U.N. official has confirmed that Israel has agreed to pay the U.N. around $10.5 million in compensation for damage to U.N. property and for the life of a U.N. driver during Israel's war last winter against Gaza.

The official said a joint announcement by Israel and the U.N. was possible later on Thursday.

U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon, who was in Israel during one of the incidents, demanded $11.2 million from Israel for damage to two U.N. schools and a World Food Program warehouse in Gaza City. The family of a driver of a U.N. truck, who the U.N. says was killed as a result of Israeli fire, would be compensated, the U.N. official said.

It was not expected that Israel would accompany the payment with an acknowledgment of wrongdoing, the U.N. official said. Israel has said that the damage to U.N. property was a result of collateral damage since it says Gazan militants were fighting near the properties.