An op-ed by Yawa Hawari published in The Independent on March 17th included quite a few wild claims about Israel and Gaza reconstruction, including this:
We have never even come across any similar claim about Gaza post-war reconstrution, suggesting that Palestinians must “surrender their house coordinates to the IOF [sic]” as a requirement for receiving building materials, and upon researching it further we were unable to find any source corroborating it.
So, we contacted COGAT (Coordinator of Israeli Government Activities in the West Bank and Gaza) to ask them about it. They responded by confirming that such information (on the purpose and location of proposed reconstruction sites in Gaza) is in fact sent, under the UN Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism, to the Palestinian Authority, not to the IDF.
So, we contacted COGAT (Coordinator of Israeli Government Activities in the West Bank and Gaza) to ask them about it. They responded by confirming that such information (on the purpose and location of proposed reconstruction sites in Gaza) is in fact sent, under the UN Gaza Reconstruction Mechanism, to the Palestinian Authority, not to the IDF.
After contacting editors at the Independent, they agreed to rewrite the passage.
It now reads:
Additionally, an addendum was added at the bottom of the op-ed noting the change.
Though the op-ed by Hawari is still full of anti-Zionist agitprop more befitting Mondoweiss than a respectable British daily, we nonetheless commend editors on the substantive correction.
- Israel Allows 1,000 Tons of Cement Into Gaza for Rebuilding Effort (algemeiner.com)
