A mobile app called "Bomb Gaza" has been pulled from the Google Play Store after being publicly criticized for having the app up in the first place.
The app, developed by PlayFTW, simulates the Israeli attacks on Gaza and the goal is to "drop bombs and avoid killing civilians."
"We remove apps from Google Play that violate our policies," said a spokesperson for Google, after confirming that the app had indeed been pulled. Google so far has not said which policy the app violated, although the policies outlined on the Google Play Store prohibited content that amounts to hate speech, violence and bullying.
The app was downloaded between 500 and 1,000 times before being removed from the Play Store.
"To think that you can turn genocide, murder and ethnic cleansing into a game is absolutely disgusting," said one Google user. Chris Doyle, director of The Council for Arab-British understanding, said that the game was in "very, very poor taste."
"These games glorify the horror and violence of the bombing of Gaza, sanitising for a younger generation what is a dreadful conflict that has killed thousands and decimated the lives of hundreds of thousands. It raises serious questions of Google's ethical standards if these games remain hosted on its platforms," Doyle continued.
"You can have video games that deal with war, but when you base it in a reality of a conflict that's going on right now it's extremely problematic. It's in very, very poor taste and it doesn't create a culture of peace -- and we need to, more than ever before."
Shortly after being pulled from the Google Play store, the app was also removed from Facebook.
The app had a relatively short life on the app store after PlayFTW uploaded it on July 31.
"Please take this off the Play store," said another user. "It is offensive and I am really let down that Google actually allowed this. If this game isn't removed, I'm starting a Google boycott."
The goal of the game is to drop bombs from an F-16 fighter jet, aiming at terrorists who are dressed in black, while trying to avoid civilians and children who are dressed in white. All this while dodging missiles that are being fired from Hamas fighters.
The most recent conflict between Israel and Gaza has been going on since Israel launched an offensive in Gaza on July 8 in response to an increase in Hamas rocket strikes. According to Gaza officials cited in a Reuters report, over 1,830 Palestinians have been killed, most of them civilians. Approximately 3,000 Palestinian homes have been destroyed.
