Amid the ongoing Gaza conflict and concerns about "war crimes" in Tel Aviv's activities, leading Chinese tech giants, such as Baidu and Alibaba, have taken an unprecedented step by quietly removing Israel from their online maps.
This omission of Israel's name, while still showing the borders between Israel and the Palestinian territories, has sparked a significant debate in the digital sphere. Many are questioning China's motivations behind this decision, especially considering even smaller countries like Luxembourg are featured on Alibaba's maps.
The ongoing involvement of Israel in the Gaza Strip has already raised international concerns and calls for ceasefires and diplomacy. This deliberate removal of Israel from the online maps adds another layer to the discussions surrounding the Israeli-Palestinian conflict, leading to questions about how global powers perceive the situation. While China has not officially commented on this change, the act of removing Israel from their digital maps marks a significant departure from the standard practices in the field of digital cartography.