Meet the Palestinian Teens Trying to Win Robotics Gold

Next week, five teens from Palestine will head to Panama to compete in one of the world’s largest youth robotics competitions. The goal? To win—and then teach STEM to their peers displaced by the Israel-Hamas war.
Meet the Palestinian Teens Trying to Win Robotics Gold
PHOTO-ILLUSTRATION: WIRED STAFF; GETTY IMAGES

For the entirety of the past year, as the teenage roboticists of Team Palestine have been working on their latest project, their homeland has been engulfed in Israel's war with Hamas. Earlier this month, that all changed. With a fragile ceasefire in place, Israeli forces began to pull back from parts of Gaza, and the teens put the final touches on the project they hope will bring them victory: a robot that can maneuver through a series of simulated challenges based on the effects of climate change.

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