Pulleys, buckets, smartphones and e-SIM cards: this is how Gaza’s “cyber tree” is built. The goal is to make the Internet accessible to as many people as possible. It’s not just about communicating with the outside world, but also about staying in touch with family and friends, coordinating rescue efforts, finding missing people, and preserving the concept of community after being torn to pieces by war.
Since October, Gaza has been an internet black hole, or almost so. Traffic volume dropped significantly. Broadcast points no longer exist due to air strikes, deliberate blackouts and power supply restrictions on telecommunications infrastructure. Georgia Tech has been monitoring black spots on the map: from a 95% connection rate on Oct. 6 to numbers that have fluctuated between 30% and 1%.
“Israeli control is meticulous: Palestinian companies PalTel and Jawwal are subject to widespread blockades. People inside Gaza are struggling to get connected,” tells us Manolo Luppichini, one of the driving forces behind Gazaweb, an Italian-based African network. A collective project developed within the government organization ACS. He can rely on the technical skills of people willing to create solutions to offset the effects of outages.
Gaza is a small, narrow strip of land, only 360 square kilometers, squeezed between the two countries of Egypt and Israel. Those who live in border areas and have Israeli or Egyptian SIM cards are trying to connect, but their numbers are low. The idea for the “Network Tree” came from trying to solve the problem of shortages of SIM cards, electricity and network connections in Gaza: “Since October 7, traditional SIM cards have been unavailable. However, there are e-SIM cards that you put into your phone A virtual version of the card in the card,” Luppichini explains.
They are activated via QR code. They are often used by tourists and entrepreneurs: they buy data packages in order to stay connected to the Internet at all times, including when moving from one country to another.
After the first phase of the fundraising campaign in partnership with AICS (International Association for Cooperation and Solidarity), Gazaweb successfully sent e-SIM cards via email or WhatsApp. A QR code is used to activate a connection, no longer to the Gaza repeater, which has been destroyed, but to a repeater in Egypt or Israel via a state-of-the-art smartphone. After October 7, the items were sold off shelves in Gaza: those who owned them could put them to public use, creating a hotspot for dozens of people.
To achieve a larger broadcast radius, the phone must be placed high so the signal can bypass physical obstacles. Buckets and pulleys are used for this purpose.
We are working hard to create a more grassroots and accessible network. Through fundraising efforts, we purchased approximately 20 e-SIM cards, mainly in the Deir al-Balah area. We are establishing connections with the aim of sending them to other regions as well. Through AICS, we have a network of contacts that can support our work.
There’s another hurdle that needs to be addressed: the power needed to charge smartphones. Manolo showed us a power bank that’s perfect for one hand: it has multiple USB ports and a built-in solar panel. The goal is to get the items into Gaza, a complex operation given Israel’s strict controls on every item entering the country. Anything that generates energy is sent back.
Our hope is to provide as many trees as possible so that these trees can flourish and spread. This is a political issue.
Access to communications and information is a fundamental right recognized by the United Nations. So, in other cases, UN agencies have tried to take action. For example, the World Food Program has a dedicated emergency telecommunications team dedicated to providing telephone and internet connectivity to humanitarian organizations and civilians using locally installed equipment.
In the case of Gaza, such devices are banned due to the Israeli blockade, but one can do the same thing from the Egyptian border. This will manage to cover a large area. There’s also WiMax technology, which is a long-range enhanced WiFi, but requires field equipment to be installed high up, such as on a rooftop. With Israeli drones flying over every corner of Gaza, WiMax is something of a pipe dream: Rooftops or houses housing the equipment could end up in the Israeli air force’s crosshairs.
“In the absence of institutional intervention,” Lupicchini concluded,
The most effective solution is the e-SIM card. However, this is a band-aid. As done elsewhere, a real repeater is required. Similar projects have been launched in Chiapas and Rojava: they have established alternative networks that provide telephone and Internet connections.
While Gazaweb may seem more like a symbolic initiative, it is a political and popular one, channeling energy on and off the Las Vegas Strip. It provides financial support to “network gardeners,” network operators who “plant” trees and make them easily accessible.
Gazaweb is a symbiotic, collaborative community operation.
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