GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip (AP) 鈥� As Israeli drones buzz overhead and ambulance sirens wail in the distance, Tarik Zaeem stays hunched over his laptop, working through lines of code for a Saudi valet parking app, debugging its barcode reader.
On weekdays he walks through the bombed-out streets of Gaza City to a coworking space where freelancers charge devices and access stable internet. Remote work provides and a form of escape from the impoverished and largely destroyed
鈥淲hen I work, I forget everything and focus on the coding. I stop thinking about my family鈥檚 basic needs,鈥� the 44-year-old programmer said of his wife and three children, who fled to Egypt early in the war. 鈥淚 stop thinking about airstrikes or searching for drinking water. When I鈥檓 on my laptop, I shut everything else out.鈥�
Zaeem is part of a community of freelancers coding, designing and programming for clients abroad. Platforms connecting them to clients 鈥� including Freelancer.com, Upwork and Mostaql 鈥� each have thousands of Palestinians from Gaza registered.
Like others in Gaza, they have at times , and , lost friends and relatives, and by Israeli airstrikes. Many stopped working, but others kept going, designing logos for pizza parlors in Canada, building booking apps for Palestinian barber shops and creating websites for businesses in Kuwait and Turkey.
After struggling through two years of full-scale war, their work is growing steadier, even as broader recovery and reconstruction efforts remain at a standstill seven months since took hold in October.
The digital sector grew up under Israel’s blockade
Digital freelancing became popular in Gaza. Traditional sectors shrank after Hamas seized control of the strip in 2007, as devastated agriculture, manufacturing and other industries.
High unemployment and a rise in connectivity 鈥� more than nine out of 10 households in Gaza had internet before the war 鈥� pushed thousands of digitally skilled college graduates to seek income abroad.
Foreign donors and NGOs took notice, investing in hackathons, incubators and coding academies. The United Nations Development Program said in 2018 that 鈥渇reelancing and online jobs are considered to be among the best temporary solutions to the unemployment problem.鈥�
Before the war, U.S.-based Mercy Corps鈥� Gaza Sky Geeks ran bustling coworking spaces with glass walls and a graffiti mural bearing the word 鈥渆ntrepreneur鈥� in Arabic. Rand Safi, its senior program manager, said interest skyrocketed once it became clear that remote workers from Gaza could compete in the global marketplace.
Most of that vanished during the war sparked by Hamas鈥� Oct. 7, 2023, attack, in which Hamas-led militants killed some 1,200 people and abducted 251. Israel鈥檚 retaliatory offensive killed over 72,700 people, , and displaced most of Gaza鈥檚 population of 2 million 鈥� . Hundreds of thousands sought shelter in squalid tent camps, and were widespread.
Gaza Sky Geeks said two of its three locations were destroyed in airstrikes. Entrepreneurs, participants and instructors have been killed or lost contact. Today, it is one of the groups working to rekindle the sector, supporting operations at five independent coworking spaces where digital freelancers can return.
鈥淭hey want the vibes, and I think they want a piece of their past,鈥� Safi said. 鈥淭here is a sense among people of not wanting to be dependent on humanitarian aid. They want an income.鈥�
Deadlines hinge on stable power and connectivity
More than 75% of Gaza鈥檚 telecommunications infrastructure was damaged during the war, and often made it difficult to fulfill contracts.
鈥淲hen we first started, the main problem was electricity and internet access. Now that鈥檚 less of an issue because workspaces have opened across Gaza,鈥� software engineer Sharif Naim said.
During the war, Naim founded Taqat Gaza, a coworking space powered by solar generators, giving remote workers an opportunity to work in three-hour shifts. Today, it caters to more than 500 freelancers, offering a full day of internet access and networking opportunities that Naim said were seen as equally useful.
鈥淭he focus (today) is creating a proper work environment, training and helping freelancers rebuild skills lost during the war so they can compete in the global market again,鈥� he said.
Part of that has been aimed toward women, many of whom became breadwinners or needed to seek additional income amid the war.
Reem Alkhateeb, a mother and graphic designer, said she tries to find time to work online while managing the daily burdens of survival, including waiting in line for food and water. Prices have soared and her husband lost his job, turning her freelancing from supplemental income into the family鈥檚 financial lifeline.
鈥淥ur dreams are no longer about luxury or big ambitions. We dream about the simplest things that should already be basic human rights: having electricity, having internet access, being able to live and work normally,鈥� she said.
Payment poses challenges
With banks often inaccessible in Gaza and platforms like PayPal unavailable to people with Palestinian addresses, freelancers have had to find alternative ways to get paid. Some route payments through relatives abroad who can receive transfers on their behalf, while others rely on who accept electronic transfers for steep fees.
Some initiatives have stepped in to help freelancers navigate the maze of payment challenges. After her husband and daughter were killed in 2024, Salsabil Bardawi founded 鈥淕aza Talents鈥� as a platform to connect Gaza freelancers to international clients and help them build careers. It has since facilitated more than $600,000 in income for workers, partnering with the Bank of Palestine and the digital wallet 鈥淧alPay.鈥�
鈥淎 lot of people can work, all they need is a laptop, internet, electricity and clients,鈥� she said.
___ Metz reported from Ramallah, West Bank.
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