CAMERA’s Israel office today prompted correction of a Times of Israel article which, due to a translation error, inaccurately stated that the Bet Hanoun home hit by a Gaza rocket belongs to an Egyptian family. The Dec. 15 article, “IDF: Gaza rocket fired at Israel falls short, strikes house in Gaza,” carried the erroneous subheadline: “Military says home in Bet Hanoun belonging to an Egyptian family hit by rocket, 2 days after a Gaza school was damaged in a similar incident.”
Similarly, the article errs: “In a post on its Arabic Facebook page, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories — Israel’s military liaison to the Palestinians — said the rocket hit a home belonging to an Egyptian family in the northern Gaza city of Beit Hanoun.”
The IDF’s Arabic post did not say that the Beit Hanoun house that was hit belongs to an Egyptian family. It did, however, refer to the family’s name: al-Masri, a common Palestinian name which means Egyptian. Indeed, the article correctly notes: “A Hadashot news report said the rocket damaged the home of the brother of a senior Hamas official, Mushir al-Masri.”
In response to communication from CAMERA, Times of Israel promptly amended the article, removing the incorrect references to the home belonging to an Egyptian family.
The amended text now accurately reports:
In a post on its Arabic Facebook page, the Coordinator of Government Activities in the Territories — Israel’s military liaison to the Palestinians — said the rocket hit the home of the al-Masri family in the northern Gaza city of Beit Hanoun.
Contrary to common journalistic practice, editors did not append a note to the article alerting readers to the change.
For additional Times of Israel corrections prompted by CAMERA, please see here.