Israel to Get $74 Million Over Gulf War Damages
Israel will receive $74 million in compensation for costs incurred by Iraqi Scud missile attacks during the Persian Gulf War, but a U.N. panel rejected most of a $1-billion military-related claim.
“The commission very early decided that military costs of participating in the Desert Storm operation would not be compensated, but a number of member states went ahead in spite of this,” U.N. Compensation Commission spokesman Joe Sills said Thursday.
The commission, charged with making payments to victims of Iraq’s 1990 invasion of Kuwait and the resulting Gulf War, received a total of $8.58 billion in claims from Israel, Germany, Turkey and Syria, but it awarded only about $79 million in compensation, Sills said.
Sills did not specify what was rejected, but commission documents show that many of the successful claims involved costs of evacuating civilians. The commission also agreed to cover damage to diplomatic buildings.
Germany submitted claims for $130 million and was awarded $5 million. Turkey asked for $3.3 billion but was granted only $1,800 for property losses. Syria submitted claims for $3.8 billion, but none of its claims were approved, Sills said.
The awards are funded through the U.N. “oil for food” program. The compensation fund receives 25% of the revenue Iraq earns through the sale of oil.
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