Gaza Youth Build Low-Cost Robots to Inspect Damaged Buildings

GAZA CITY: Young innovators in war-battered Gaza are building robots and other devices from scavenged parts to inspect dangerous buildings, assist people with disabilities and ease everyday hardships.
More than 100 participants at a youth hackathon in Gaza City are showcasing over 45 projects. They include robots to inspect damaged buildings and assist the elderly, as well as smart-farming and water-treatment solutions. Despite frequent power cuts and a shortage of electronic components, they are assembling prototypes from whatever wires, sensors, motors and circuit boards they can find.
The building-inspection robots have drawn particular attention. On Sept. 16, the six-storey al-Saada building in Gaza City collapsed. It had been weakened by war damage and was sheltering displaced people. The Palestinian group Saif said 21 people were killed and 45 injured. According to the relevant Gaza ministry, about 3,000 buildings are considered dangerous or at risk of collapse. A small robot could enter such structures for an initial assessment instead of a person.
The hackathon is part of wider efforts to teach robotics in Gaza. Under the “NextGen” project in Deir al-Balah, children are learning about sensors, motors and programming, and practising building early-warning systems for fires or gas leaks. Hamza al-Atrash, 16, said the lack of equipment does not stop them but pushes them to find new solutions with simple materials.
In May 2026, the U.N. Development Programme said it had completed 100 temporary learning spaces across 10 Gaza schools. The young inventors’ robots remain early prototypes.