Rising from the rubble: A Gaza tech incubator defies Israel’s war
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- UCAS Technology Incubator supported more than 500 young tech professionals across 13 specialized facilities funded by the European Union, Qatar, and the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development, and awarded startup grants of $5,000–$10,000.
- Israeli attacks destroyed the incubator's headquarters in Gaza City's Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood in August 2024, along with more than 20 specialized laboratories, according to UCAS director Abdallah al-Tahrawi.
- A field assessment of 100 Gaza startups found 80% of headquarters completely destroyed, 15.7% severely damaged, and nearly 23% of workers had left Gaza to seek opportunities abroad, leaving over 95% of operational environments unworkable.
- Tariq Thabet, the incubator's programs director, was killed in an Israeli air strike on October 31, 2023, alongside his wife, children, and parents; Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor says the Israeli military has systematically targeted programmers and IT experts throughout the war.
- Euro-Med estimates that of roughly 65 tech businesses operating in Gaza before the war, nearly all headquarters have been destroyed, six business incubators damaged, and all university-affiliated tech centres closed.
- The incubator now operates from a rented location in Gaza City, running a recovery plan to restore core programmes and serve 100+ beneficiaries in its first phase, while continuing the "e-Lancer" digital-skills project and a partnership with the al-Amal Institute for Orphans that trains girls in fashion design and sewing.
Why it matters: The near-total destruction of Gaza's tech infrastructure — 80% of surveyed startup headquarters wiped out, 23% of the workforce gone, and named incubator leaders killed with their families — means the enclave's digital-economy recovery is being rebuilt from a single rented room by a fraction of its pre-war talent pool, while systematic targeting of IT professionals, per Euro-Med, forecloses the most mobile career path out of the blockade.
