Hebrew daily “Yediot Ahronot” reports that the property tax department has paid NIS 500 million in compensation to individuals and factories for damage caused by Kassam rockets and mortar fire.
The compensation involves damage incurred during military operations within the Gaza Strip and in adjacent Israeli territory, including Sderot and moshavim (cooperative settlements) and kibbutzim (collective settlements), since the outbreak of the intifada.
Each time damage has been caused by Palestinian fire or IDF activities, property tax assessors fan out to the site to assess the amount of compensation to be paid for the damage. Private houses and apartments in Gush Katif, homes and vehicles in Sderot, and structures in kibbutzim and moshavim were among the properties damaged. The highest single compensation paid by the property tax department was NIS 500,000 for damage to a private house.
The compensation paid for damage from the intifada in the Gaza Strip and adjacent Israeli territory greatly exceeds the compensation paid to residents of Kiryat Shmona and the northern Galilee from damage caused by Katyusha rocket fired from Lebanon. Most of the damage in the Gaza Strip and adjacent Israeli territory has been caused by Kassam rockets, mortar bombs and roadside bombs, which have wrecked parts of the Erez industrial zone, damaged border crossing points, and extensively damaged public property, including roads, fences, traffic signs, street lights and public buildings.
The property tax department said yesterday, "Compensation has been paid out of the legally mandated compensation fund for direct damage to roads in Israel damaged by hostile actions by foreign forces in combat against the IDF. In addition, in some cases, indirect damage caused by warfare as defined in the property tax regulations, such as lost profits, has also been covered."
Published by Globes [online] - www.globes.co.il - on October 26, 2004