Hamas Claim: Damage Caused by Operation Pillar of Defense Will Cost $1.2 Billion

Last Updated on Monday, 26 November 2012 00:38 Written by JPost Monday, 26 November 2012 00:03

A Palestinian boy sits among the rubble in a house destroyed during a recent Israeli airstrike in Beit Lahiya in the northern Gaza Strip, 25 November 2012.  EPA

Gaza - Hamas said on Sunday the cost of damage caused by Operation Pillar of Defense’s eight-day bombardment of the Gaza Strip will reach $700 million in indirect damages, and $500 million in direct damages to the city, Palestinian news agency PalToday reported, making total damages of more than $1.2 billion.

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According to PalToday, Hamas issued a preliminary estimate of damage caused by “Israeli aggression” in an official statement. According to the statement, a total of 200 buildings were demolished, and around eight thousand damaged.

Hamas plans to open a commission of inquiry into the operation, PalToday reported.

Meanwhile, a high-level delegation led by Ziad Zaza, Hamas’s Minister of Economy, is heading to Cairo in order to discuss the details of the truce agreement with Israel, in particular regarding the freedom of movement for Gazan fishermen, PalToday reported.