Israel ‘systematically’ targets technology experts in Gaza, rights group warns

18 March 2024; MEMO: Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor has documented the Israeli occupation’s “systematic” targeting of dozens of programmers and IT experts, alongside the destruction of their company headquarters as part of its genocide in the Gaza Strip.

“Since the beginning of its large-scale attack on Gaza, the Israeli army has killed hundreds of people with intellects [sic] and expertise in the blockaded enclave, especially those proficient in information technology, programming, and computer engineering, as well as other elites in the local community such as doctors, academics, and others,” the rights group said in its report yesterday.

It warned that the “Israeli crimes of targeting and killing Palestinian competencies and elites, as well as the widespread and intentional destruction of businesses and infrastructure, will not only undermine the scientific, educational, and economic system of the Gaza Strip but also impede the development of Palestinian society in general.”

“As part of the widespread destruction inflicted on the technological sector and the depletion of its related infrastructure, Euro-Med Monitor documented that the Israeli army launched direct and devastating attacks that targeted the headquarters of startups specialising in information technology and partnership companies in the Gaza Strip.”

It warned that this is part of Israel’s efforts “aimed at making the Gaza Strip uninhabitable by destroying fundamental life structures and eliminating talent. This will certainly lead to a paralysed society incapable of quickly recovering from the disastrous fallout from Israel’s serious crimes committed during that period.”