Ahmed Aziz
Rainstorms
uprooted and flooded scores of displacement tents in the Gaza Strip on Tuesday,
worsening the already deteriorating living conditions for many Palestinians as
a suffocating Israeli siege continues to bar the entry of makeshift shelters.
A displaced Palestinian girl looks at a tent camp following heavy rains
amid the Israeli war on Gaza in Deir al-Balah, in the central Gaza
Strip, on 31 December 2024 (Majdi Fathi/NurPhoto via Reuters)
At least 100
tents were extensively damaged from the heavy rain overnight in Khan Younis,
according to the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, Unrwa.
"The
situation is very difficult," said Saed Lasta, a north Gaza resident who
has been displaced over six times since the Israeli war on Gaza began in
October last year.
"These
tents can't withstand the heat during summer, nor can they withstand the cold
during winter, they do not protect from the rain," Lasta told Middle East
Eye.
"Meanwhile,
the strong winds can even pull apart the most durable tents," he added,
noting that these conditions put children and the elderly at further risk amid
the difficulties of war and displacement.
"We send a
message to the world to look at us with mercy, and just end this genocidal war
and allow each person to go back to their home and feel comfortable in their
area because we have suffered."
The Palestinian
Civil Defence in Gaza, a search-and-rescue group, said they received hundreds
of distressed calls from displaced Palestinians asking for help to save their
children amid the flooding of tents and shelters.
"We appeal
to people of conscience to rush to save these families and help them move to
suitable shelters that protect them from rainwater, especially the displaced in
the camps in central Gaza City, Mawasi, Khan Yunis, Rafah and western Deir
al-Balah," the civil defence said in an a statement.
According to the
Palestinian Government Communication Center, the majority of the 1.9 million
displaced in Gaza living in shelters face "life-threatening conditions due
to extreme cold and heavy rain".
"To date,
hypothermia has tragically claimed the lives of six newborns and a
physician," the media office said in its latest situation report.
Worn out tents
The effects of
the harsh weather conditions on Palestinians in Gaza have been exacerbated by
the lack of humanitarian aid, forced displacement and increasing food
insecurity.
Since the start
of the war, Israel has imposed a siege on Gaza, preventing the necessary
amounts of food, water, electricity, medicine and tents.
Unrwa's
commissioner-general, Philippe Lazzarini, warned that infants in Gaza are dying
as a result of the cold weather and lack of shelter and basic necessities, such
as blankets, mattresses and other winter supplies.
"CeasefireNow
+ An immediate flow of much needed basic supplies including for #WINTER,"
Lazzarini said in a post on X, formerly known as Twitter.
In another post,
Lazzarini noted that at least 745 people were killed in Unrwa-led shelters and
2,200 were wounded since the war began.
He urged the
immediate facilitation of humanitarian access into the enclave, adding that
Israel must lift "the siege on Gaza to bring in much needed humanitarian
supplies including for winter".
Ahmed Abu
Mustafa, a Palestinian man who has been displaced since the war started on 7
October 2023, said that the tents, made primarily of nylon, were damaged by the
scorching heat during summer, making them less durable for winter and floods.
"When we
fled our homes, we didn't take anything with us thinking that it will only be a
few days and we would return," Abu Mustafa told MEE.
"We have no
clothes, even for the kids. Maybe it's easier on us adults because we can
withstand the cold, but for children, it's incredibly difficult."
Talking about
preparations for this winter, Abu Mustafa said that they have "nothing but
God during this period," adding that he hoped the coming year would bring
better times and an end to the war.
Muhammad Abu
Masood, who has been living in a displacement tent for over a year, told MEE
that their shelters were "nothing more than plastic bags."
"The rain
enters [the tents] from every direction," said Abu Masood, adding that
they are in need of better and more durable tents to protect them from the
freezing temperatures.
"Let the
aid enter, bring in more tents, and stop this war as soon as possible because
the cold and winter is exacerbating the population's conditions and need for
basic necessities."
'Freezing and
hungry'
Meanwhile, a
severe Israeli-made hunger crisis makes matters worse for the displaced
families.
Figures from the
Integrated Food Security Phase Classication (IPC) show that the Gaza Strip's
entire population, around 2.2 million people, is undergoing extreme levels of
acute food insecurity.
Over 1.1 million
people are at risk of facing catastrophic conditions classified under the IPC
Phase 5, considered the most severe level of food insecurity.
Reneen Gossam
Abu Assi, a 16-year-old displaced girl, says she doesn't know how her young
siblings can survive these conditions.
"They are
freezing... and hungry, and on top of that [facing] war and starvation... this
is unfair," Abu Assi told MEE.
Her siblings
spent the night suffering from diarrhoea and vomiting amid the rain, she added.
"As
grownups we can endure this, but what about the children, what do we tell
them?"
Sophia
Goodfriend
On
Dec. 10, Israeli military officials, weapons manufacturers, and American
venture capitalists gathered at Tel Aviv University for the first ever
DefenseTech Summit. The two day affair featured panels on “The Future of Global
Conflict,” “Challenges of Iron Swords” (the IDF’s name for the war in Gaza) and
“Exploring Innovation in Drone Technology.” Representatives from Palantir,
Sequoia Capital, and Elbit shared the stage with the Director General of the
IDF and the head of LOTEM, the army unit devoted to big data and AI.
I
arrived early on Tuesday morning and stood in line to pick up my entry badge
with representatives from Google Cloud and uniformed soldiers from MAFAT, the
Israeli army’s research and development wing. The event was packed full of tech
workers, military representatives, and American investors eager to network.
Officially,
the DefenseTech Summit was meant to showcase “Israel’s cutting edge
technologies and strategies for addressing global security.” But the event felt
more like a celebration of a new and unrestrained era of techno-militarization
inaugurated by Donald Trump’s reelection.
Partnerships
between Israel’s military and American venture capitalists and corporate heads
are expected to ramp up under the Trump administration. Trump’s planned
“government efficiency drive,” overseen by Elon Musk, champions joint projects
between big defense contractors and smaller tech firms, especially in areas
like AI and drone warfare. As Palantir’s Noam Perski put it in his speech on
Tuesday morning, “All these people who used to be tech bros are now defense
tech bros.”
Many
American proponents of the overhaul are hardcore defenders of Israeli military
strategy in Gaza over the last year. They cite Israel’s rapidly spinning door
between the military and start-up sector as a model to be emulated — and a
handful traveled to Ramat Aviv for the occasion.
The
American investors, with their leather shoes, designer button-ups, and botox,
stood apart from the Israeli tech bros sporting Nike t-shirts, skinny jeans,
and sun-damage. But the buffet in the lobby was a veritable melting pot. High
ranking generals and intelligence soldiers straight off the base chatted with
billionaires over cappuccinos. Everyone was eager to talk about AI,
sky-rocketing investments in military industries, and Elon Musk.
The
optimism buoying these war industries is not tempered by the ongoing
devastation in Gaza, one of the most fatal conflicts for civilians in recent
history. Charges of war crimes at the ICC and of genocide at the ICJ have done
little to deter Israel’s far-right government, and at the conference — as in
Israeli public discourse writ large — the official line continued to bend,
obstinately, toward righteous victory. “This is a war between good and bad,”
Director General of the Israeli Army Eyal Zamir offered in his opening remarks.
“It is a war between light and darkness, and soon we will light the Hanukkah
candles.”
It
is a narrative that would sound cheesy if it did not cohere with the Manichean
worldview embraced by Silicon Valley’s hawks, now ascending the ranks of
American political power. Among the most influential firms is Palantir, the
software company known for providing AI-assisted surveillance and targeting
software to both the U.S. and Israel.
“(After
October 7,) demand for our products skyrocketed dramatically. Suddenly all
doors opened,” General Manager of Palantir Israel, Ayelet Gilan, told Forbes
Israel in November. “A rare opportunity for collaborations was created here,
and we managed to create relationships that led to joint projects.”
Palantir’s
company vision was distilled by CEO Alex Karp at the Ronald Reagan Defense
Forum, held in Simi Valley California just a few days before the Tel Aviv
summit. “People want to live in peace, they want to go home — they do not want
to hear your woke pagan ideology,” he exclaimed. “They want to know they are
safe and safe means that the other person is scared: that’s how you make
someone safe.”
‘Defense
tech is cool again’
It
is no secret that Silicon Valley began as an experiment of the U.S. Department
of Defense, churning out the mainframe computers and microprocessors guiding
U.S. military operations during the Cold War. Israel quickly became the
industry’s satellite campus: IBM and Intel first opened offices in the 1970s,
and other giants followed in the decades to come.
Israel’s
technology industry, indebted to an influx of American cash at the end of the
20th century, has never covered up its role in regional war and occupation. On
the contrary, the closely revolving door between the military and technology
sector is a hallmark of Israel’s start-up nation brand.
Since
the 1990s, however, American tech firms have tended to deny their military
origins. Instead, they advertised themselves as liberal bastions — Google’s
motto was literally “don’t be evil.” Although military contracts were common,
CEOs ensured they were signed secretly to avoid the ire of employees who would
vocally protest military applications of their products.
At
prior industry events I covered, starting in 2019, founders and generals went
out of their way to assure the audience that algorithmic surveillance and drone
targeting offered more precise — and therefore more humane — tools of war. It
was part of a larger narrative, pushed by more centrist elements in Israel’s
government and a historically liberal security establishment, that digital and
automated technologies would help minimize the impact of war and occupation on
civilian lives.
Over
the last few years, however, the tide has slowly shifted — both in the United
States and Israel. Today, American tech founders view themselves as a new
warrior class, proudly remaking their country in the image of Israel’s “warrior
nation.” Israel’s far-right government and Silicon Valley’s royalty adhere to a
“peace through strength” security doctrine, touting lethal displays of force as
the only way to shore up national security — or what Palantir’s Alex Karp
describes as “scaring your enemy shitless.”
At
this year’s DefenseTech Summit, it seemed as if there was no need to appeal to
international human rights law or diplomatic norms. Hamutal Merido, former
General Manager of Palantir Israel, explained this to the audience: “When I was
at Palantir, we used to have demonstrations outside our offices,” she recalled.
“Now, everyone seems to think [defense tech] is cool again.”
Shaun
Maguire, a partner at U.S. venture capital firm Sequoia Capital and an
outspoken defender of Israeli military strategy in Gaza, offered the audience a
similarly rosy picture for today’s military industrial complex: “If I talked to
people three years ago, you were said to be a bad person if you worked for the
military. But now things are very optimistic — the psychology of the whole
thing is changing.”
A
new era of partnership
In
2024, Trump ran on an isolationist “America First” platform, opposing
involvement in faraway wars. But for Palantir and other jingoistic tech firms
who coalesced around his campaign, Israel’s war in Gaza underscored the
importance of investing in military technologies.
“People
are looking at what’s happening in Ukraine or Israel… and they’re saying, ‘Man,
I would love to spend time working on things that are going to move the needle
for humanity,’” said Trae Stephens, co-founder of U.S. defense tech firm
Anduril, in a September interview with Wired. Earlier this month, Anduril and
Open AI announced a partnership to supply the U.S. Department of Defense with
AI-assisted defense systems, and Stephens recently consulted with Trump’s
transition team on plans to revamp the U.S. military.
Since
October 7, Israeli troops have relied on a host of weapons and surveillance
systems — many manufactured or maintained by U.S. technology giants like
Palantir, Amazon, Google, and Microsoft — in the country’s relentless aerial
and ground bombardment of Gaza that killed at least 45,000 people and damaged
or destroyed 60 percent of its buildings. And as reporting by +972 revealed, AI
targeting systems such as Lavender and The Gospel were used to ramp up death
tolls across the Strip, often in blatant violation of international law.
But
while these tactics have failed to achieve Israel’s objectives in Gaza, the
prolonged war — which former army chief of staff Moshe Ya’alon recently
described as amounting to “ethnic cleansing” — has bolstered the portfolios of
American tech CEOs and venture capitalists. Many of them continue to strike new
deals with the Israeli army and pump cash into the local military tech market.
Earlier
this month, an American investment firm bought Israeli spyware firm Paragon for
over half a billion dollars, despite the Biden administration’s efforts to curb
the sale of such systems. Tensions between the U.S. and Israel rose after
similar surveillance technologies sold by NSO Group, an Israeli spyware
company, were linked to human rights violations worldwide. Industry insiders
believe Trump’s reelection marks a new era of partnership, even for Israel’s
more controversial firms.
“The
next four years, we’re going to be entering a much better era of partnership
between Israel and the U.S. and a kind of more aligned vision of how to have
security in the region,” Sequoia Capital’s Shaun Maguire declared in his speech
at the conference. Kamala Harris as President, he added, “would have been
terrible news for Israel.”
Lorne
Abony, managing partner of VC fund Texas Ventures, and one of the most prolific
funders of Israeli military technology firms since the war began, put it in
more simple terms: “The next few years will be a renaissance for Israel. We
have all the pieces in place in the [U.S.] department of defense.” The crowd
clapped loudly.
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