Gaza damage to cost $1.2 bln: Hamas spokesman

GAZA CITY, Palestinian Territories - Agence France-Presse

Palestinian children walk on the rubble of a building destroyed during earlier Israeli bombardment adjacent to their United Nations run school, in Gaza City, on November 24, 2012, three days after a truce was declared between Israel and Hamas. AFP Photo

Israel's eight-day bombardment of the Gaza Strip has caused more than $1.2 billion in direct and indirect damages, a spokesman for the Hamas government said today.

 "The total cost of damages caused by the Israeli aggression is $1.245 billion (960 million euros)," Taher al-Nunu told reporters in Gaza City.

He said direct damage caused by more than a week of Israeli aerial bombardment had cost $545 million (420 million euros) while indirect damages added up to some $700 million (540 million euros).
 Nunu said the eight-day operation had completely destroyed 200 homes and partially damaged another 8,000.

Another 42 non-residential buildings, including the Hamas government headquarters, were also completely destroyed, he said.

Three mosques and a health centre were levelled, and hundreds of official buildings were also partially razed, Nunu said.

During the operation, the Israeli military said it hit more than 1,500 targets, including 19 command centres, 26 weapons manufacturing and storage facilities and "hundreds of underground rocket launchers" as well as "dozens" of longer-range rocket launchers.

Statistics provided by the Hamas-run health ministry show that between November 14-21, 166 Gazans were killed, most of them civilians, and another 1,235 people were wounded.

Of those killed, at least 43 were children and 13 women, the emergency services and rights groups said.

In Israel, rocket fire from Gaza killed six Israelis -- four civilians and two soldiers -- while another 240 people were injured, the military said.