Apple has said it will stop the Palestinian flag emoji from being suggested to iPhone users when they type "Jerusalem" in their on-screen keyboard, and blamed a software bug for the prompt - according to Agence France-Presse (AFP).

Apple was accused of showing “anti-Israel” bias amid the ongoing aggression carried out by the Israeli Occupation in the Gaza Strip.

The tech giant told AFP that the predictive emoji suggestion in the iPhone keyboard was not intentional and would be fixed in the next update to its mobile operating system.

British television presenter Rachel Riley sparked the issue, saying “When I type the capital of Israel, Jerusalem, I'm offered the Palestinian flag emoji” in a post on her “X” account.

“Showing double standards with respect to Israel is a form of antisemitism, which is itself a form of racism against Jewish people,” Riley claimed in her post.

“Please explain whether this is an intentional act by your company, or whether you have no control over rogue programmers,” Riley added.

Apple told “iMore” that this was not intentional, and that the issue will likely be fixed soon in the upcoming software update to iOS 17.

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