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• MIDDLE EAST NEWS
• JANUARY 7, 2010, 11:20 A.M. ET

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

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.

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Is this the beginnings of a real peace "deal"?  What do you think?