Rising from the rubble: A Gaza tech incubator defies Israel’s war

Today, that ecosystem has been entirely upended. The headquarters and more than 20 specialised laboratories were completely destroyed, while several staff and participants were killed or imprisoned by Israel, according to UCAS.

In addition, a field assessment of 100 startups in Gaza conducted by the incubator revealed staggering losses:

• Eighty percent of the startups’ headquarters were completely destroyed.
• A total 15.7 percent suffered severe damage, leaving more than 95 percent of the operational environments unworkable, without comprehensive reconstruction.
• Nearly 23 percent of the workers in these projects have left Gaza to seek opportunities abroad.

“We didn’t just lose infrastructure; we lost a part of the human capital that formed the core of our work over the past years,” al-Tahrawi said.

Despite the massive losses, the incubator has launched a recovery plan to restore core programmes and launch new workspaces, with the aim of including more than 100 beneficiaries in its first phase.

‘Systematic targeting’ of IT experts

The loss of human capital has been devastating and, according to human rights monitors, deliberate. The Israeli army has systematically targeted dozens of programmers, IT experts, and computer engineers during its genocidal campaign.

According to the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, the Israeli military has killed hundreds of intellectuals and experts in the blockaded enclave. That number includes Tariq Thabet, the director of the UCAS Technology Incubator Programs, who was killed on October 31, 2023, in an Israeli air strike that also killed his wife, children, and parents.

Other prominent tech leaders killed include Baraa Abdullah al-Saqqa, a software engineer, who was killed in a November 2023 air strike along with his pregnant wife and in-laws; and Haitham Mohammad al-Nabahin, regarded as one of Gaza’s most accomplished computer engineering specialists, also killed alongside his wife, in a March 14 strike on a home in the Bureij refugee camp.

Before the war, about 65 businesses operated in Gaza’s tech sector. Euro-Med estimates that programming and IT company headquarters have been almost completely destroyed, six business incubators have been damaged, and all university-affiliated tech centres have been closed. The rights group stated that these crimes appear to be part of an Israeli policy aimed at making Gaza uninhabitable by destroying fundamental life structures and eliminating talent.

Derailed dreams and digital resilience

The widespread destruction of training centres, coupled with frequent power and internet blackouts, has brought much of Gaza’s entrepreneurial momentum to a halt.

But UCAS is still continuing its efforts, and now operates from a rented location in Gaza City.

Mohammed al-Safadi, a computer professor supervising the “e-Lancer” tech capacity-building project funded by the UCAS incubator, emphasised that the material losses have been compounded by the derailment of hundreds of young careers. “Technical laboratories, computers, and specialised training halls have been destroyed, and several developmental projects aimed at training youth in programming and web development have stopped,” he told Al Jazeera.

Despite the challenges, the e-Lancer project continues to try and maintain its training programmes, viewing digital skills as a crucial path for economic recovery. Tharaa al-Sharif, a student beneficiary, said the project provides a comprehensive path from technical training to freelancing on digital platforms. She noted that it had equipped her with the practical skills needed to confidently compete in the modern digital market, despite the difficulty of living in Gaza.

The UCAS incubator’s role extends beyond tech, supporting economic empowerment programmes for those most affected by the war. UCAS partnered with the al-Amal Institute for Orphans on one such project, with the aim of supporting girls who lost their fathers – often their family’s main breadwinner – during the war.

Amina Hammou, coordinator of fashion design and arts at the college, explained that the project trains participants in fashion design and sewing to professional standards. She added that all necessary equipment and materials are provided free of charge so that young women can enter the labour market and help support their families.

Bayan al-Shurafa, a student participating in the project, said the initiative had changed her life. “I am now able to execute complete designs and experience working in sewing and embroidery with confidence and professionalism, which gives me hope to build a better future and support my family in facing difficult circumstances,” she told Al Jazeera.

Amidst the rubble and the exodus of talent, the UCAS incubator is trying to salvage Gaza’s innovation ecosystem. For its organisers, reconstruction is not merely about rebuilding stones, but about rebuilding people and empowering youth to shape their own futures, even in the harshest of conditions.