UN official suggests Israel pay for destroyed aid

[DogPoundPup]

GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip – The U.N.'s humanitarian chief suggested Thursday that Israel should pay for the hundreds of tons of food and other supplies destroyed when Israeli shells struck the main United Nations compound in Gaza.

Touring Gaza to assess what is most urgently needed in the coastal strip, U.N. official John Holmes called the steep Palestinian casualty toll from Israel's offensive "extremely shocking" and suggested the United Nations might ask Israel to compensate it for wartime damage to U.N. compounds in Gaza. Hundreds of tons of humanitarian aid were destroyed by Israeli shelling that struck the main U.N. compound.

"We want to make sure it is properly investigated and that we get proper accountability for it and proper compensation if it is needed and I think it will be needed," Holmes told reporters.

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Low-level violence on both sides has marred the cease-fire and on Thursday a Palestinian man and girl walking near the shore in Gaza City were wounded by a shell fired from an Israeli gunboat, a Gaza health official said.

Another shell landed 100 yards (meters) away in an empty area near a U.N. aid distribution center. And heavy-caliber bullet fire struck at least one house in the area, a witness said.

The Israeli military said it was firing to deter a Palestinian fishing vessel that had strayed off-limits.

http://news.yahoo.com/s/ap/20090122/ap_on_re_mi_ea/ml_israel_palestinians;_ylt=A0wNcwvFgnhJTrkAgQjGK7IF