JERUSALEM, August 26, 2026 (WAFA) – Israeli occupation authorities continue to change the names of streets, landmarks, and historical sites in occupied Jerusalem as part of a policy aimed at erasing their longstanding Arab names and imposing Hebrew ones.

The Jerusalem Governorate said in a statement today that staff affiliated with the occupation authorities installed a sign bearing the name “Old Gate” after removing signs bearing the name Bab al-Amud (Damascus Gate), one of the most prominent gates of Jerusalem’s Old City, historically and geographically associated with the city and its Arab identity.

The governorate said that changing the names of Jerusalem’s streets, gates, and historical landmarks is not merely an administrative measure, but part of a broader policy aimed at reshaping the city’s urban and cultural landscape and severing future generations from its longstanding Arab names and centuries-old history.

It stressed that the names of Jerusalem’s gates, streets, and landmarks form an integral part of the city’s national, historical, and cultural memory, and that attempts to replace them with new names undermine Jerusalem’s Arab, Islamic, and Christian identity and heritage.

The Jerusalem Governorate warned that the continued implementation of such policies seeks to alter the city’s historical character and impose a new reality, stressing that changing names will not erase Jerusalem’s history or its national and civilizational memory.

T.R.