bbc_world
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采集 2026-08-04T09:17:39+00:00
'Digital lifeline' - Gaza tech workers give glimpse of possible future
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bbc_world
发布时间
2026-08-03T23:13:03
采集批次
2026-08-03-16
字数
8000
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c3f0dc3ce0be35c3
📄 正文（8000 字）
'Digital lifeline' - Gaza tech workers give glimpse of possible future - BBC News [BBC Homepage](https://www.bbc.com) - [Skip to content](#main-heading) - [Accessibility Help](https://www.bbc.co.uk/accessibility/) - [Your account](https://account.bbc.com/account?lang=en-GB&ptrt=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.bbc.co.uk%2Fnews%2Farticles%2Fc1m1xm8ykk2o) - [Home](https://www.bbc.com) - [News](https://www.bbc.com/news) - [Sport](https://www.bbc.com/sport) - [Earth](https://www.bbc.com/future/earth) - [Reel](https://www.bbc.com/reel) - [Worklife](https://www.bbc.com/worklife) - [Travel](https://www.bbc.com/travel) - [Culture](https://www.bbc.com/culture) - [Future](https://www.bbc.com/future) - [Music](https://www.bbc.com/culture/music) - [TV](https://www.bbc.co.uk/schedules/p00fzl9m) - [Weather](https://www.bbc.com/weather) - [Sounds](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds) [More menu](#global-navigation-more-menu) [More menu](#global-navigation-more-menu) [Search BBC](https://www.bbc.com/search?d=NEWS_GNL) - [Home](https://www.bbc.com) - [News](https://www.bbc.com/news) - [Sport](https://www.bbc.com/sport) - [Earth](https://www.bbc.com/future/earth) - [Reel](https://www.bbc.com/reel) - [Worklife](https://www.bbc.com/worklife) - [Travel](https://www.bbc.com/travel) - [Culture](https://www.bbc.com/culture) - [Future](https://www.bbc.com/future) - [Music](https://www.bbc.com/culture/music) - [TV](https://www.bbc.co.uk/schedules/p00fzl9m) - [Weather](https://www.bbc.com/weather) - [Sounds](https://www.bbc.co.uk/sounds) [Close menu](#more-menu-button) [BBC News](/news) [Menu](#product-navigation-menu) - [Home](/news) - [Climate](/news/topics/cmj34zmwm1zt) - [World](/news/world) - [US & Canada](/news/world/us_and_canada) - [UK](/news/uk) - [Business](/news/business) - [Tech](/news/technology) - [Science](/news/science_and_environment) - [Entertainment & Arts](/news/entertainment_and_arts) - [Health](/news/health) [More](#product-navigation-more-menu) - [In Pictures](/news/in_pictures) - [BBC Verify](/news/bbcverify) - [Newsbeat](/news/newsbeat) - [World](/news/world) - [Africa](/news/world/africa) - [Asia](/news/world/asia) - [Australia](/news/world/australia) - [Europe](/news/world/europe) - [Latin America](/news/world/latin_america) - [Middle East](/news/world/middle_east) # 'Digital lifeline' - Gaza tech workers give glimpse of possible future  Image caption, Walaa Volidis supports her displaced parents and four younger siblings ByYolande Knell Crossing Continents, BBC Radio 4, Reporting fromJerusalem - Published 9 hours ago **"I was just in a trough, drowning in uncertainty," says Walaa Volidis, a Palestinian software engineer. "But deep inside, I made a decision: it will not be the end, no matter how hard it gets. I'll keep fighting for my dreams."** Wearing a headset and glued to her laptop, Walaa discusses AI on a video call with her mentor in California's Silicon Valley. The 24-year-old wants to keep her skills up to date. But that is the least of her daily challenges as she lives in a tent in central Gaza supporting her displaced parents and four younger siblings. "When the war started, I lost everything: my job, my university, even some of my family members. My sisters were injured," Walaa tells me from a co-working space in Deir al-Balah. She says her mental health was "totally destroyed", but she prioritised finding work. Walaa is one of thousands of young Gazans now pursuing roles in the digital economy. "It's a kind of momentum," she says. "I have my main goal every single day to go to work, to finish my tasks. If you stop or cry about your situation, you will not do anything."  Image caption, New co-working spaces have been set up across Gaza Amid the rubble of Gaza, the majority of the two million population is reliant on humanitarian aid to survive and there are few ways for people to earn a decent salary. The UN says the unemployment rate has passed 80%, compared to 22% before the war. Humanitarian groups see online work - particularly freelancing for clients abroad - as offering some of the best opportunities. "We talk about it now as a sort of digital lifeline, this idea that if you have a laptop, if you have a working internet connection, you can work and have an income," says Nicole Hark, from the US humanitarian organisation, Mercy Corps. "It's really critical to help people go back to work. They don't want to be dependent on aid." Before the latest devastating war, triggered by the deadly Hamas-led attacks on Israel in October 2023, Gaza had a burgeoning tech sector. Israel and Egypt kept the Hamas-run territory under blockade, citing security reasons. Coding, designing and programming remotely were a way for young graduates to overcome tight border restrictions. Gaza Sky Geeks was founded in 2012 by Google and Mercy Corps. The initial idea was to promote tech start-ups, but its three bustling hubs also ran coding courses and gave advice on accessing international markets. Two were destroyed during the war. Mercy Corps now supports some of the new co-working spaces which have popped up across Gaza using generators and solar panels to offer better internet connections and a more stable power supply. Gaza's power system has suffered near-total collapse and approximately 75% of its telecommunications networks have been damaged or destroyed.  Image caption, Tarik Zaeem, who has been developing apps, says getting paid remains a challenge "I am starting from scratch, from zero, to start a new career," says Tarik Zaeem, speaking to me from a co-working space in Gaza City. Before the war, the 44-year old was the chief technology officer for a local firm. Now, he is a freelance programmer. "When I work on my laptop, I forget everything. I forget what's happened," Tarik says. He has recently developed a mobile app to make bookings for a barber's shop and a valet parking app for a Saudi client. Most of Tarik's income goes to support his wife and three children, who are now living in neighbouring Egypt - as he used his savings to buy their exit early in the war. But getting paid remains a challenge. Few bank branches have reopened in Gaza and there are severe shortages of cash. Palestinians face many international banking restrictions and those in Gaza cannot register with most digital payment platforms. Some manage to route their money through relatives abroad. But others rely on brokers in Gaza who charge high fees to convert electronic transfers into cash. Tarik says these have often left him with only half his original payment. "It's not enough for a good living," he adds. "[Just] the basics."  Despite last year's US-brokered ceasefire, and the recent deal between President Donald Trump's Board of Peace and Hamas to advance his peace plan, Israeli bombardments in Gaza have continued on a near-daily basis. Israel says it is targeting Palestinian armed groups. At least 1,250 people have been killed, including 265 children, since October's truce, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry, whose figures are seen as reliable by the UN. Tarik describes an air strike outside his co-working space in Gaza City in June. On that occasion, a Palestinian student sitting her exams onlin