Gaza's Tech Incubator Rises from the Rubble Amid War

June 10, 2026 - 06:45

In the shattered landscape of Gaza, where Israeli airstrikes have flattened entire neighborhoods and killed thousands, a small tech incubator is defying the destruction. The facility, once a hub for young Palestinian entrepreneurs, now operates from a cramped, partially damaged building in Gaza City. Its staff and founders refuse to let war erase the hope they built.

Israel's military campaign, launched after the October 7 attacks, has decimated Gaza's tech sector. At least 12 prominent software engineers and startup founders have been killed in airstrikes, according to local tech networks. The incubator's original headquarters was reduced to rubble in November, along with servers, prototypes, and years of work. Yet the team salvaged what they could: a few laptops, backup drives, and a satellite internet terminal.

"We lost everything except our will," said a co-founder who spoke on condition of anonymity for safety. "The war tried to kill our future, but we are still coding."

The incubator now operates as a makeshift shelter and workspace. About 20 young developers and designers sleep on mattresses among the desks, charging phones from a generator. They build apps for water distribution, map safe routes through bombed streets, and maintain a database of missing persons. Their work is a lifeline in a territory where 1.9 million people are displaced and basic services have collapsed.

International donors have paused funding, citing security risks. But the team persists, relying on small donations from diaspora Palestinians and freelance coding gigs. "This is not charity. This is survival through technology," the co-founder said.

The incubator's resilience echoes a broader story in Gaza: a generation that grew up under blockade, learned to code in internet cafes, and built startups against all odds. Now, amid the rubble, they are rebuilding again.