Tel Aviv - Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu has agreed to a French request to rebuild a Gaza hospital damaged during Israel's winter offensive in the salient, the Ha'aretz daily reported Wednesday. The premier told French President Nicolas Sarkozy by telephone Tuesday that he was agreeing to the request as a humanitarian gesture and added that he wished to accommodate Paris due to the "strident stance that France has taken on Iran's nuclear programme," the daily said.
Sarkozy made the request of Netanyahu during the Israeli leader's visit to Paris in June this year.
The al-Quds Hospital, was hit by a tank shell during the fighting, causing a fire to break out on the second floor.
Netanyahu told Sarkozy he would order the Israeli Defence Ministry to allow building materials, such as concrete, to be allowed into the Strip, so as to facilitate the reconstruction.
Israel has limited the import of such material into the enclave, in part out of fear that they would be used in the manufacture of weapons.
