Israeli military apologises for posting wrong India map after social media backlash

The Israel Defence Forces on Friday issued an apology after it posted a wrong map of India depicting Jammu and Kashmir as part of Pakistan.

The apology followed a strong social media backlash with several Indians expressing their anger and asking the IDF to retract the post.

The Israeli military shared the map to showcase the global range of Iran’s missiles amid the escalating tension between the two countries.

“Iran is a global threat. Israel is not the end goal, it’s only the beginning. We had no other choice but to act,” the post read.

However, many Indians pointed out the mistake in the map and urged IDF to respect India’s sovereignty.

"Now you understand why India remains neutral. In diplomacy, no one's really your friend," said an X handle called Indian Right Wing Community.

Responding to this tweet, the IDF said the post was just an illustration of the region.

“This post is an illustration of the region. This map fails to precisely depict borders. We apologize for any offense caused by this image,” it said.

The Middle East is on the brink of an all-out war with both Israel and Iran exchanging airstrikes in the wee hours of Saturday. The fresh wave of attacks followed Israel’s biggest-ever offensive against Tehran on Friday in a bid to prevent it from developing a nuclear weapon.

According to reports, air raid sirens sounded in both Tel Aviv and Jerusalem, the two largest cities of Israel, in the wee hours of Saturday, prompting residents to seek shelters in bunkers.

Several explosions were reported in Tehran, too, with some reports claiming that the city’s Mehrabad airport was hit by two projectiles. 

Middle East