Microsoft updates maps to label occupied West Bank and add Palestinian place names

WASHINGTON: Microsoft has changed how locations in the occupied West Bank are identified on its digital mapping services, replacing Israeli designations with terminology aligned with international law and adding Palestinian geographical names, according to a statement cited by Anadolu Agency.

The Arab Center for the Advancement of Social Media, known as 7amleh, said the revisions affect location-based services, including Microsoft’s search engine Bing. According to the organisation, places in the West Bank that had previously appeared under the label ‘Judea and Samaria, Israel’ are now listed as the ‘West Bank’.

In its statement, 7amleh said the update also incorporated Palestinian geographical names into Microsoft’s digital maps. The group described the move as a correction to earlier designations that it said had misrepresented the status of the territory.

Change described as aligned with international law

The term ‘Judea and Samaria’ is used by Israel for the occupied West Bank. This stands in contrast to international law, under which the West Bank, including East Jerusalem, is to be recognised as Palestinian territory occupied by Israel.

The West Bank is regarded as a central part of a future Palestinian state. The changes made by Microsoft were presented by 7amleh as bringing the company’s mapping labels into line with that legal and political framework. "The changes represent a “necessary correction,” said Lama Nazeeh, 7amleh’s advocacy manager, who also urged technology companies to comply with international law and avoid contributing to the “digital erasure of Palestinian geography”.

Rights group urges broader compliance

7amleh said the issue extends beyond a single platform and called on technology companies more broadly to ensure that their digital products do not use labels that conflict with internationally recognised terminology for occupied Palestinian territory.

The statement, as reported by Anadolu Agency, framed the update as an important step in addressing how Palestinian places are represented online. The previous wording on Microsoft services had listed locations in a way that associated the occupied West Bank with Israel, while the revised labels now identify the area as the West Bank.

The development concerns Microsoft’s digital maps and related search functions, including Bing, where users rely on location labels and place names for geographic information. According to 7amleh, the inclusion of Palestinian geographical names and the removal of the earlier Israeli designation mark a significant change in the company’s presentation of the occupied territory.

Dawn published the report on April 29, 2026.