The Israeli government, according to The Wall Street Journal, has agreed to pay about $10.5 million to compensate the United Nations for an incident that resulted in the killing of a U.N. driver and the destruction of two U.N. schools and a World Food Program warehouse during Israel’s attack on Gaza in 2009.

Israel’s compensation will probably not include an admission of wrongdoing since the country’s officials have said that the death and destruction fell into the oh-so-overused category of “collateral damage.” –JCL

The Wall Street Journal:

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.

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