“Gaza only works with 2G,” said Jabril, a Palestinian academic at Cambridge. He said Israel, which controls telecommunications networks in the enclave, does not allow 3G, 4G or 5G.
“Still, a mobile phone is more important than ever in Gaza,” he said, “essential for studies, emergency communications and checking on relatives in other parts of the Strip.”
For others, a small but lucrative market exists among traders and the small minority of Palestinians who have managed to retain or acquire large amounts of cash during the war, according to Tania Harri, executive director of Geisha, an Israeli human rights group that specializes in the movement of people and goods across Gaza’s borders.
This is the first time in two years that phones are being allowed into Gaza through official channels, Harry said. “So there is excitement about it and there is more demand for the phone and accessories,” he said. And like in the West, some people are keen on the status afforded by iPhones, although this is a small minority of the population.
On a recent morning a handful of minorities were pressed against the counter of the Tabiya cellphone store in Khan Yunis. With its previous showrooms demolished, Tabiya now operates from a temporary tent-like structure with a canvas roof and wood and metal supports. Its name was printed on an orange and white cloth banner.
It sold everything from budget models like the Redmi A5 and POCO C71, made by China’s Xiaomi, to the iPhone 17 Pro, which costs more than $1,000 in the US.
According to the store’s owner, Monzar Abu Hamad, as well as customers interviewed by NBC News, the war, border restrictions and general logistics backlogs and chaos meant that prices had previously risen to several times the normal market price. However, the influx of phones means these prices have now stabilised.
“At the moment, the demand for devices is very high, firstly because of the high school students, and secondly because education in Gaza has become electronic,” Hamad said.
Phones are compact and profitable, so traders can import them more easily than bulky or restricted items such as formula, medical supplies or construction materials, said Eran Yeshiva, an Israeli economist who has studied and written extensively about Gaza’s economy.
“A small group of buyers with access to cash creates a market that traders are eager to serve, while the majority of households face severe shortages,” he said.
outcome? “A distorted economy in which luxury goods can appear in stores while essential supplies remain disrupted,” he said, “reflects the chaotic mix of political control, commercial incentives and humanitarian failure that now characterizes Gaza.”
With continued Israeli bombardment disrupting every aspect of life – from education and health care to news and entertainment – people in Gaza are increasingly relying on their screens for information and relief.
Khan Yunis economist Farid Kablan said, “The mobile phone is the only device that tells the truth to the world, and so it is an essential beacon.”
20-year-old Mohned Ahmed Abdel Khafoor is an example of this.
“I use my phone for studying, working, everything. Everything requires a phone,” he said. His old instrument was damaged in the war – “so I had to buy one.”
Distrust has increased among some Palestinians, who see this rapid arrival of new technology as echoes of the mass pager blasts in Lebanon of 2024. Dozens of people were believed to have been killed, and according to Hezbollah, 1,500 were injured, in what was widely interpreted as an intelligence operation by Israel.
Harry said in Geisha, “After what happened with the pagers, I personally wouldn’t go anywhere near those phones.”
