The devastating fallout of Israel’s genocidal war on the Gaza Strip has extended far beyond the destruction of homes and basic services. More than two and a half years of violence have obliterated Gaza’s economy – including the technology and entrepreneurship sector, a vital lifeline that once provided thousands of graduates with a window of hope amid mass unemployment and Israel’s years-long blockade.

Among the hardest-hit institutions is the UCAS Technology Incubator, affiliated with the University College of Applied Sciences (UCAS) in the Tal al-Hawa neighbourhood of southwestern Gaza City. Once a vibrant hub for innovation and startups, its headquarters and facilities were reduced to rubble in August 2024 after Israeli attacks targeted the college.

A hub of innovation destroyed

Abdallah al-Tahrawi, director of the UCAS Technology Incubator, told Global News Insight that the centre was established 13 years ago to invest in Palestinian youth and foster a culture of innovation and entrepreneurship to support economic development.

The incubator – the name given to organisations that foster tech startups and entrepreneurs – has supported more than 500 young tech professionals and hosted dozens of projects focused on information technology, food manufacturing, commerce, and creative industries.

Prior to the war, the incubator boasted 13 specialised facilities, including training halls, media production studios, and co-working spaces, funded by grants, including from the European Union, Qatar, and the Arab Fund for Economic and Social Development.

UCAS then provided grants ranging from $5,000 to $10,000 to help young people establish or develop startups, and hosted unique initiatives like “Insaf”, an incubator aimed at developing the professional capabilities of lawyers.

Today, that ecosystem has been entirely upended. The headquarters and more than 20 specialised laboratories were completely destroyed, while several staff and participants were killed or imprisoned by Israel, according to UCAS.

In addition, a field assessment of 100 startups in Gaza conducted by the incubator revealed staggering losses:

• Eighty percent of the startups’ headquarters were completely destroyed.
• A total 15.7 percent suffered severe damage, leaving more than 95 percent of the operational environments unworkable, without comprehensive reconstruction.
• Nearly 23 percent of the workers in these projects have left Gaza to seek opportunities abroad.

“We didn’t just lose infrastructure; we lost a part of the human capital that formed the core of our work over the past years,” al-Tahrawi said.

Despite the massive losses, the incubator has launched a recovery plan to restore core programmes and launch new workspaces, with the aim of including more than 100 beneficiaries in its first phase.

‘Systematic targeting’ of IT experts

The loss of human capital has been devastating and, according to human rights monitors, deliberate. The Israeli army has systematically targeted dozens of programmers, IT experts, and computer engineers during its genocidal campaign.

According to the Euro-Med Human Rights Monitor, the Israeli military has killed hundreds of intellectuals and experts in the blockaded enclave. That number includes Tariq Thabet, the director of the UCAS Technology Incubator Programs, who was killed on October 31, 2023, in an Israeli air strike that also killed his wife, children, and parents.

Other prominent tech leaders killed include Baraa Abdullah al-Saqqa, a software engineer, who was killed in a November 2023 air strike along with his pregnant wife and in-laws; and Haitham Mohammad al-Nabahin, regarded as one of Gaza’s most accomplished computer engineering specialists, also killed alongside his wife, in a March 14 strike on a home in the Bureij refugee camp.

Before the war, about 65 businesses operated in Gaza’s tech sector. Euro-Med estimates that programming and IT company headquarters have been almost completely destroyed, six business incubators have been damaged, and all university-affiliated tech centres have been closed. The rights group stated that these crimes appear to be part of an Israeli policy aimed at making Gaza uninhabitable by destroying fundamental life structures and eliminating talent.

Derailed dreams and digital resilience

The widespread destruction of training centres, coupled with frequent power and internet blackouts, has brought much of Gaza’s entrepreneurial momentum to a halt.

But UCAS is still continuing its efforts, and now operates from a rented location in Gaza City.

Mohammed al-Safadi, a computer professor supervising the “e-Lancer” tech capacity-building project funded by the UCAS incubator, emphasised that the material losses have been compounded by the derailment of hundreds of young careers. “Technical laboratories, computers, and specialised training halls have been destroyed, and several developmental projects aimed at training youth in programming and web development have stopped,” he told Global News Insight.

Despite the challenges, the e-Lancer project continues to try and maintain its training programmes, viewing digital skills as a crucial path for economic recovery. Tharaa al-Sharif, a student beneficiary, said the project provides a comprehensive path from technical training to freelancing on digital platforms. She noted that it had equipped her with the practical skills needed to confidently compete in the modern digital market, despite the difficulty of living in Gaza.

The UCAS incubator’s role extends beyond tech, supporting economic empowerment programmes for those most affected by the war. UCAS partnered with the al-Amal Institute for Orphans on one such project, with the aim of supporting girls who lost their fathers – often their family’s main breadwinner – during the war.

Amina Hammou, coordinator of fashion design and arts at the college, explained that the project trains participants in fashion design and sewing to professional standards. She added that all necessary equipment and materials are provided free of charge so that young women can enter the labour market and help support their families.

Bayan al-Shurafa, a student participating in the project, said the initiative had changed her life. “I am now able to execute complete designs and experience working in sewing and embroidery with confidence and professionalism, which gives me hope to build a better future and support my family in facing difficult circumstances,” she told Global News Insight.

Amidst the rubble and the exodus of talent, the UCAS incubator is trying to salvage Gaza’s innovation ecosystem. For its organisers, reconstruction is not merely about rebuilding stones, but about rebuilding people and empowering youth to shape their own futures, even in the harshest of conditions.