The Instagram page of lawmakers representing Bavaria’s conservative Christian Social Union (CSU) party in the German parliament was hacked on Wednesday, with pro-Palestinian content temporarily posted on the account.
One image showed the the slogan “Free Palestine” over a clenched fist in the Palestinian colours.
An adjacent illustration showed a small boy balanced on a large orb holding the Palestinian flag amid rubble, with ominous black birds hovering overhead.
The site had been hacked, a spokeswoman for the parliamentary group confirmed to dpa. The posts have since been taken down and control over the site has been restored, she said.
Images of the hack were posted on social media platform X by German journalist Thilo Jung, among others, and continued to circulate online.
The latest posts from Tuesday on the restored CSU Instagram page include images of CSU parliamentary leader Alexander Dobrindt on a visit to Israel.
In one of the images, he can be seen shaking hands with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, with the respective national flags in the background.
“Dobrindt in northern Israel,” another image reads. “Fight Hezbollah, defend Israel’s right to exist.”
The CSU has dominated politics in largely Catholic Bavaria for decades. The party is in long-term alliance with the Christian Democratic Union, which campaigns on a conservative platform throughout the rest of Germany but stays out of Bavaria.