Pulley, bucket, smartphone, e-SIM. This is how a “network tree” is built in Gaza. The goal is to provide access to the Internet to as many people as possible. It is not only for communicating with the outside world, but also for keeping in touch with family and friends, coordinating relief efforts, locating missing persons, and maintaining the concept of community after being torn apart by war. is also used.
Since the Israeli invasion began in October, Gaza has become an internet black hole, or something close to it. Traffic has decreased dramatically. Air raids on communications infrastructure, deliberate blackouts by the Israeli military, and limited access to electricity have left broadcast points gone. According to IODA, a monitoring system run by the Georgia Institute of Technology with support from the U.S. government, internet connectivity in the Gaza Strip was 95 percent on October 6, 2023, but that number has varied from 1 percent to around 30 percent. did.
“Israeli management is being very careful, and the Palestinian companies Partel and Jawar are experiencing massive interference. People inside Gaza are struggling to connect to the network,” Manolo Luppicchini said. Ta. He is one of the driving forces behind Gazaweb, a joint project sponsored by the Italian NGO He ACS. Luppicchini is counting on the technical capabilities of ordinary Gazans who have taken it upon themselves to create solutions to counteract the effects of the power outage.
Gaza is a small piece of land, less than 140 square miles, wedged between Egypt and Israel. People living in Gaza’s border areas with Israeli or Egyptian SIM cards still manage to connect, but after months of military attacks and forced displacement, very few do.
The idea to build a “network tree” arose from an attempt to circumvent the lack of SIM cards, electricity, and connections to the Gaza network. “Since October 7, it has become impossible to obtain a traditional SIM card for him, but an e-SIM, a virtual version of the card that you insert into your mobile phone,” Luppicchini explains. “They are activated through his QR code. These are usually used by tourists and entrepreneurs. Buy a package.”
The idea of building a “network tree” arose from an attempt to circumvent the lack of hardware, power, and connectivity. “Since October 7, it has been impossible to obtain a SIM card” in Gaza.
After a fundraising campaign in collaboration with the Italian Agency for Development and Cooperation, known as AICS, Gazaweb was able to send e-SIMs to many people via email and WhatsApp. Since relay stations in Gaza have been destroyed, QR codes are used to enable connections to relay stations in Egypt and Israel. State-of-the-art smartphones are needed, and smartphones have been flying off the shelves in Gaza since October. Those lucky enough to own them can share and use them to create hotspots for dozens of people.
To reach a wider broadcast radius, the phone must be physically placed as far from the ground as possible so that the signal can avoid physical obstructions. Buckets and pulleys are used for this purpose. “We’re trying to create a more grassroots, more accessible network,” Luppicchini says. “Through fundraising efforts, we have purchased approximately 20 e-SIMs, concentrated in the Deir Al Bala area. We are in contact with other areas to deliver them.Using AICS This will give you a network of contacts who can support you in this work.”
There is another obstacle that needs to be addressed. That’s the power needed to charge your smartphone. Luppicchini introduces a power bank that fits in one hand and has multiple USB ports and a built-in solar panel. The goal is to bring them inside Gaza, a complex operation given that Israel meticulously controls all entry points and all incoming goods. Anything that produces electricity is sent back. “Our hope is to get as many of these trees as possible so they can thrive and spread,” Luppicchini said. “This is a political issue.”
Access to communication and information is a fundamental right recognized by the United Nations. In other situations, UN agencies continue to work to take action. For example, the World Food Program has a dedicated team called the Emergency Telecommunications Cluster that works to provide telephone and internet connectivity to humanitarian organizations and civilians using equipment installed on the ground.
Israel’s blockade prohibits access to the Gaza Strip for such devices, but a connection could be established from inside Egypt’s borders and cover large swathes of Gaza. Another possibility is his WiMax technology, a type of long-range extended WiFi that requires on-site equipment to be installed on the roof or upper floors of a building. That may be a pipe dream, as Israeli drones fly into every corner of the Gaza Strip. Rooftops and homes with such equipment could be in the crosshairs of the Israeli Air Force.
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“In the absence of institutional intervention, the most effective solution is e-SIM,” Luppicchini concludes. However, this is a Band-Aid. Real repeat customers will be needed, as has been achieved elsewhere.A similar project has begun in Chiapas. [Mexico] and rojava [Syria]: They have set up an alternative network that provides both telephone and internet connectivity. ”
Although Gazaweb appears to be a largely symbolic effort, it is a political and populist effort that pumps energy into and out of Gaza. Provides financial support to “web gardeners”, network operators who “plant” trees and make them accessible. “Gazaweb is a symbiotic and collaborative community operation,” Luppicchini said.
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