^{1 June 2025}

For decades, the Israeli occupation of Palestine has served a hidden, double purpose. By now it is clear to most, that the main purpose of the occupation is ethnic cleansing and genocide for land theft, expanded territorial control and access to - especially fossil -  ressources. 

But under the surface, there is also an underlying tech- and military industry marketing scheme to the genocidal crimes against humanity carried out by the US and Israel in Palestine. 

Over the past 20 months we have seen weapons being used, that we have never seen before. Bigger bombs, new kinds of drones and AI-surveilance. 

On the surface the main reaction of shock is to the levels of extreme violence. It is natural for us to think that the only reason to use these weapons is to create as much destruction, torture and death as possible. And it definitely is.

But as more and more patterns are revealing themselves, the gruesome reality suggests that there is also a deeply coldblooded and sinister marketing scheme underlying it. 

What if the industries and asset companies behind these colonial governments and their occupation forces were so deeply cynical and psychotic that they saw civilian life and housing in Palestine as a possible lucrative frontier for the global military industry? 

What if the Palestinian civilians — confined and monitored 24/7 in their home turned into a large concentration camp — were also used to become unwilling test subjects in a genocidal weapons laboratory, where the most advanced weapons systems in the world were used and tested in real time?

It would seem like something out of the most horrible sci-fi horror movie. Yet if we look closer, it is the grim reality. 

From AI-controlled drone strikes to the use of massive bunker-busting bombs, the ongoing genocide in Gaza is both about complete destruction — but also a sick demonstration of technology. 

If the weapons and technology can be proven to work as advertised - in this case in Palestine - it is easier for the manufacturers to sell them elsewhere.

“Tested in Gaza” is the slogan that the weapons manufacturers don’t want you to know about, but want everyone in their business to hear. 

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Palestine forcibly turned into a real life weapons lab

In military expos around the world — from Paris to Abu Dhabi — Israeli arms companies market their products with a disgusting slogan: ‘combat-tested in Gaza’. This isn’t a Freudian slip, as we've seen many public examples of in the past 20 months by politicians and other public figures.

In the hidden parallel universe of global weapons manufactoring and sales, it is a strategic branding decision. Because for weapons buyers — governments and private militaries alike — no label is more valuable than “battle-proven.”

By turning Gaza into a closed off concentration camp, the weapons industries have - through the IOF - used the densely populated civilian areas to carry out tests of military technology. 

With 2.3 million Palestinians trapped in an area roughly the size of the island of Malta and no way to escape, every Israeli assault becomes - in the most evil and disgusting way - a real-time advertisement for their latest military tech.

Each bomb that is dropped on hospitals, schools, apartments and tents becomes both a direct and deliberate murder of children and civilians and a deeply sick and twisted marketing pitch for global arms buyers.
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“Like a computer game” 

One of the most disturbing trends in recent times  is the increasing use of AI-powered drones, capable of autonomously identifying, tracking, and attacking targets with little to no human input. Israel has been one of the main actors of this development, and Gaza has become their main testing area.

In October 2023, Israeli forces used a new AI-assisted targeting system nicknamed “The Gospel.” According to whistleblower reports published in +972 Magazine and Local Call, this system was capable of generating hundreds of targets per day, many of them civilian homes, using algorithms fed with real-time surveillance data. 

Israeli officials admitted to striking thousands of residential buildings — often with just a few minutes’ notice, if any.

These decisions were increasingly made not by analysts or military officers, but by machine learning models trained on patterns of movement, intercepted communications, and biometric data. 

In practice, this means Palestinians are now being killed based on predictive behavior profiles generated by algorithms. There is no accountability, no due process — and no humanity in the loop.
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And with the human operated drones, there is both a severe physical and emotional distance between the victims of the strikes and their perpetrators: 

"It felt like a computer game,” an IOF soldier said to +972 magazine about his experience working in a drone operation room.

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Drones designed for export

Israeli drone models such as the Hermes 450 and Hermes 900, built by Elbit Systems, are now in service in over a dozen countries, including the UK, Brazil, Mexico, and Azerbaijan. These drones were first used extensively in Gaza during the 2008–2009 war, then updated and redeployed in subsequent assaults in 2014, 2021, and now 2023–2025.

The Hermes 900 in particular is known for its long endurance, advanced optics, and ability to hang in the air over targets for hours before launching a missile. It was marketed as “combat-proven” after operations in Gaza — and is now one of Israel’s top defense exports.

What’s often left out of the glossy brochures is that these systems have been used to assassinate journalists, children, and entire families. Drone strikes in Gaza have repeatedly hit schools, hospitals, press convoys, and U.N. shelters — with no consequences. 

The lives destroyed are seen by the weapons and tech industries not as war crimes, but as data points to improve targeting systems and close the next sale.
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US-Israeli cooperation: A genocidal alliance for profit

The relationship between the US and Israeli military industries goes far beyond weapons transfers. American giants like Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Raytheon are deeply embedded in Israel’s war economy, and the testing that happens in Gaza fuels their own development pipelines.

Raytheon, for example, co-produces the Iron Dome missile defense system with Israeli firm Rafael. While marketed as a purely “defensive” system, Iron Dome intercepts rockets only when it’s convenient — and is often used as a shield to justify disproportionate retaliatory strikes. The system’s performance is heavily publicized after each Gaza war, driving up demand globally. In 2023 alone, Raytheon and Rafael signed multiple new contracts to export Iron Dome batteries to Europe and East Asia — deals made possible by the destruction of Gaza.

Lockheed Martin, the world’s largest weapons manufacturer, supplies Israel with F-35 fighter jets — among the most expensive and lethal aircraft ever built. These jets are now dropping 2,000-pound bunker busters over residential areas in Gaza, often leveling entire city blocks. Such bombs are typically used to penetrate fortified military structures — but in Gaza, they are dropped on refugee camps.
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Massacres used as marketing

In military catalogs, images of drones and fighter jets are accompanied by vague references to “real-world performance.” In the fine print, that means: 'Tested on Palestinians'. The bloodstained soil of Gaza is a marketing asset.

Weapons expos such as Eurosatory in Paris and DSEI in London are filled with Israeli booths proudly showcasing “operationally proven” technologies. Videos of drone strikes are often included — with no indication that the targets were civilians. The dehumanization is vast: Palestinians are reduced to anonymous silhouettes in a grainy crosshair video. Their deaths are promotional material.

Even American firms benefit. After each Gaza assault, US manufacturers rush to highlight their systems’ performance. Stock prices rise. Congressional funding increases. Politicians from both parties praise Israel’s use of “precision” munitions — even when entire families are incinerated.
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Heaviest bombs ever used

The current assault on Gaza, which began in late 2023, has included some of the largest bombs in the US arsenal. Among them are GBU-31 Joint Direct Attack Munitions (JDAMs) — satellite-guided bombs weighing up to 2,000 pounds. According to Amnesty International, these weapons have been used repeatedly in strikes on refugee camps, schools, and medical facilities.

In one documented incident, a single GBU-31 dropped by an F-35 destroyed an entire apartment complex in Rafah, killing dozens of civilians, including women and children. Satellite imagery and witness accounts confirm that no military target was present. Yet the bomb was dropped anyway — and the aftermath was used internally by defense firms to highlight the platform’s “penetration capabilities.”

These bombs are manufactured in the US and delivered to Israel through expedited arms transfers approved by the Biden administration. Every detonation is a form of field test.
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Exporting the violence globally 

The consequences of this brutal cycle reach far beyond the borders of Palestine. After their first use in Gaza, Israeli-tested weapons systems are exported to regimes around the world. From the surveillance towers on the US-Mexico border to the drones used in Myanmar, the weapons and technologies used in Palestine are repurposed globally.

Elbit Systems now supplies biometric surveillance and drone technology to the EU for use against migrants in the Mediterranean. The same systems that track Palestinians in Gaza are now watching refugees from Libya and Sudan. The wall becomes portable.

And as AI systems become more central to military strategy, Gaza continues to function as the epicenter for weapons testing. Each new assault brings more data which leads to improved automation.
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Genocidal capitalism

Gaza is not ‘just’ under siege. It is not ‘just’ an extermination camp  — it is also - as disgusting as it sounds - an experimentation camp. 

The military industries of Israel and the United States are entangled in a profit-driven cycle that depends on ongoing violence. The more civilians they murder, the more their weapons systems are validated. And the more destruction is recorded, the more products are sold.

Palestinian lives are not just being stolen. They are also being monetized and turned into profit.

This genocide is revealing everything we feared about capitalism to be true - and in many ways to be much worse than we could ever even imagine.