Google has removed a game named Bomb Gaza from the Google Play Store.
The game allowed players to take on the role of Israeli soldiers that were sending bombs into Gaza, Egypt.
"We remove apps from Google Play that violate our policies," said a Google spokesperson to CNET. However, Google said that it does not provide comments on specific apps, even one that has sparked such controversy as Bomb Gaza.
The game was launched last week on July 29 and downloaded at least 1,000 times. The instructions that came with the game was to "drop bombs and avoid killing citizens."
Players piloted an Israeli jet on the side-scrolling game, tasked with dropping bombs on cartoon versions of Hamas militants while avoiding incoming missiles.
The game was obviously a distasteful and shameful take on the ongoing Israeli-Palestine conflict that has left Gaza in ruins after several bombing incidents. Fatalities have climbed to over 1,700 people, which includes about 400 children.
Google Play customers have cried in outrage against the game since its release, criticizing the game's developers for creating the app as well as Google, for allowing the game to be published on the Play Store.
"Utterly shameful. Real people, many of them children, are dying in Gaza. Many of those who haven't been killed face life with debilitating injuries, bereavement and without homes. Their suffering is as real as yours or mine, and to make light of it like this speaks of your essential failure as a human. Shame on the creators of this game, and those who 'play' it," said George Coote in a comment on the game's page.
However, as appalling as Bomb Gaza is, there are more apps that have found their way onto Google Play Store that have turned the serious conflict into a video game.
A game entitled Gaza Assault: Code Red was also taken down from the Google Play Store. The game placed gamers in the middle of the ongoing conflict through the operation of an Israeli drone that was tasked to protect citizens as rockets are launched into the country. Players controlled the drone as it flies over the landscape, targeting threats with different kinds of weapons.
Another game is Whack the Hamas, which is a whack-a-mole style game that has players tapping on cartoon Hamas soldiers that are appearing from beneath the ground to prevent them from hurting innocent civilians.
Such apps that are published on the Google Play Store make light of the conflict, which is a problem that will see a serious issue be normalized among the younger ages that are likely to download and play the apps.
