A/HRC/2/7 page 21 are no longer habitable due to extensive damage. Of these, 400 people are still residing in hotels.133 The Government will also compensate those who suffered bodily injury as a result of the conflict, e.g. due to rocket shrapnel. 94. In the course of the visit, however, the mission heard persistent complaints that affected members of the Arab Israeli community were discriminated against and disadvantaged in the payment of compensation for their damages incurred during the war. The perception among some of the mission’s interlocutors was that the Tax Authority’s assessors would systematically underestimate the property damage suffered by them. Challenging the Authority’s assessment requires means which Arab Israelis often lack and delays the payment process, which many cannot afford. Similarly, with regard to claims arising from injuries, the mission heard allegations of health officials unjustly denying claims on the basis that the injury was not proven to be related to the war. Where an injury requires long-term treatment, including for mental health patients, the grave effects of such a determination on the access to health care of the victim and the financial situation of the family are obvious. The mission could neither investigate individual cases of alleged unjust denial, nor of course the alleged systemic and thus discriminatory dimension of such denials. 95. In order to ensure better protection for the civilian population in the future there is a clear need for the authorities to build, repair and upgrade shelters throughout the country, in particular in towns and villages with Arab populations. There is also a need to be better prepared to provide adequate humanitarian assistance in possible future armed conflicts, in particular to the poor, children, the sick and the elderly. 96. An official assessment of the environmental damage caused by the conflict in the north confirms, inter alia, that sewage plants were damaged and, in some cases, effluent had to be released into the sea and atmosphere (by burning).134 The mission was also informed that unexploded ordnance remains a problem over a wide area. 97. While medical services have resumed their activities, there is a need to better prepare and equip hospitals for possible future attacks (e.g. fully equipped underground facilities). As in Lebanon, the recent conflict poses a profound and continuing challenge to the mental and psychosocial well-being of the Israeli population, especially women and children and the elderly, giving rise to many cases of post-traumatic stress disorder.135 Four weeks after hostilities ended, an Israeli mental health specialist reported that hospitals were receiving “late reactions” to the conflict. He estimated that these amounted to “a few hundreds”, but he expected they would climb to “a few thousands”. In both countries, health professionals emphasized the high level of stress disorders, observed that it is much too early to assess the full impact of the conflict on individuals’ mental and psychosocial health, and urged that more resources be made available on an equitable basis for these extremely important issues.136 VI. CONCLUSIONS AND RECOMMENDATIONS 98. In addition to human rights law, the principles of humanitarian law are entirely applicable to this conflict and deviations from these principles cannot be justified on the basis of the alleged novelty or distinctiveness of this conflict.