'May god curse Israel's Jerusalem: Anti-Israel fake placenames pop-up on Google Maps' depiction of Rafah border

Google Maps users who navigated through the Rafah border between Gaza and Egypt on the app might have come across placenames with anti-Israel words like ‘F***k Israel’ or ‘May god curse Israel’s Jerusalem.’

A report by CNN says that cyber activists were able to alter the placenames because of its feature that enables any user to create and contribute information about landmarks on the map.

Multiple locations around the Rafah border carried anti-Israel remarks in Arabic and English. One of them said, “Palestine is free, may god forgive us” in Arabic.

Meanwhile, there is no evidence that any part of Google systems was breached or compromised in altering the placenames.

Ben Decker, CEO of online threat analysis company Memetica, who described the situation as “cyber vandalism” said, “Cyber vandalism traces its origins back to the early stages of the internet when communities would hack into and deface websites.”

Google, Apple disable real-time traffic data in Israel

Google and Apple have temporarily shut down real-time traffic conditions and crowding data in Israel and the Gaza Strip in Google Maps and Waze apps after the Israeli military made a request amid an imminent ground invasion in Gaza.

A spokesperson from Google stated, “As we have done previously in conflict situations and in response to the evolving situation in the region, we have temporarily disabled the ability to see live traffic conditions and busyness information out of consideration for the safety of local communities.”