Quds city, Oct 22, SPA -- Israel's recent 17-day military offensive in the northern Gaza Strip killed 107 Palestinians, left nearly 700 homeless and caused more than US$3 million dollars in property damage, a U.N. aid agency said in a report Friday. Operation "Days of Penitence" was launched Sept. 29 in response to rocket fire on Israeli towns that killed five Israelis in recent months. In the bloodiest campaign in Gaza in four years of fighting, some 200 armored vehicles and 2,000 soldiers patrolled the northern part of the strip to keep rocket launchers out of the range of Israeli communities. During the campaign, 107 Palestinians were killed and 431 wounded, according to the U.N. Relief and Works Agency, which cares for Palestinian refugees. Ninety-one homes were demolished, making 675 Palestinians homeless, UNRWA said. In addition, 101 houses, home to 833 people, sustained damage, the report said. UNRWA said it will cost $2.5 million to rebuild the private homes. In addition, 19 public buildings and commercial properties were destroyed by army shelling and bulldozers, including government compounds, a mosque, two farms and three factories, among several other small shops, the report said. Sixteen buildings were damaged, including eight UNRWA school on the eastern border of the Jebaliya refugee camp, the focus of the army's operation.
