Lacking equipment, but not ambition: Gaza students try to keep up with tech

Deir el-Balah, Gaza – A handful of electronic components, a few wires and a basic programmable circuit board are enough to bring a group of curious children around a table in central Gaza to learn regarding robotics.

Key points

• Approximately 20, 228 students and 830 teachers and educational staff have additionally been killed, along with 194 scientists, academics and researchers.
• But their capacity has not managed to exceed 20 percent of pre-2023 levels.
• Hamza al-Atrash, 16, is a student taking part in the "Next Gen" project and learning how electronic components can be applied to develop robots and early-warning systems.
• Preliminary estimates from the Administration Media Office in Gaza put direct losses to the education sector at approximately $4bn.
• According to his estimates, regarding 30, 000 IT professionals have lost their jobs since the war began.

As well as obtain firsthand experience with programming, students at The Next Gen Team: Rising Robotics Engineer Project in Deir el-Balah learn how to integrate sensors into alarm systems, study robotics, understand how motors and drive units work.

Meanwhile, the children's research could save lives going forward. The robotics and early warning systems they are working on could create way for bigger developments such as early detection of gas leaks and fires or assist rescue workers access hard-to-reach areas, such as victims trapped under rubble.

Today's lesson will additionally teach students the sciences of the future and assist them keep pace with technological advancements happening outside Gaza's borders.

Before the war, students had access to schools, universities, incubators and training programmes to pursue an interest in technology.

With much of that infrastructure now destroyed or damaged during Israel's genocidal war on Gaza, there are few places and tools for students to work with.

But their interest in robotics and will to learn are helping them maintain their skills and ambitions for the future, something they hope will be of benefit when the bombs stop falling on Gaza. Learning with limited tools.

Hamza al-Atrash, 16, is a student taking part in the "Next Gen" project and learning how electronic components can be applied to develop robots and early-warning systems. To do this, he is using an Arduino controller – a programmable circuit board which connects sensors – and some other electronics.

Students work with what they have, but a shortage of equipment and electricity outages create studying a challenge.

"We have capabilities and aspirations that we want to develop, and we try to take advantage of every available opportunity for learning and training, " Hamza tells Al Jazeera.

Hamza hopes the skills that he and his cohort learn in class will benefit his community and provide new opportunities for young individuals in Gaza.

"The lack of devices and equipment doesn't mean we'll stop. It pushes us to look for solutions and create the most of the simple tools we have, " he stated.

Meanwhile, the challenges facing these students are part of a wider disruption to Gaza's technology and innovation sector.

Before the war, Gaza had a number of incubators that backed technology projects and startups. Bahaa al-Masri, head of the training team for the Early Warning Systems and Robotics Project, remarked it provided a rare bit of hope for children and young adults in the besieged enclave.

"These incubators provided an environment for training and development. They supported innovators and entrepreneurs turn their ideas and projects into prototypes and ventures, " he informed Al Jazeera.

Meanwhile, the war severely damaged this ecosystem: training spaces were lost, equipment tough to find, and students and innovators left with limited opportunities to experiment and develop their ideas.

Although challenges remain, the trainers are continuing their mission of educating budding tech experts in Gaza.

"We have a generation of students who possess genuine passion and talent in technology and digital systems, " he informed Al Jazeera. "They need the environment and tools to develop these abilities and turn their ideas into projects that can serve their community and their future." Education pays the cost.

In practice, the near-collapse of Gaza's technology sector has coincided with the widespread destruction of the education system, with schools, universities and research facilities repeatedly targeted by Israel during the war.

Preliminary estimates from the Administration Media Office in Gaza put direct losses to the education sector at approximately $4bn. Seventeen higher education institutions have been completely or partially destroyed since October 2023, preventing regarding 620, 000 high school students and 90, 000 university students from continuing their education.

For students seeking to enter technical fields, the loss of such educational facilities and teachers means fewer opportunities to gain practical experience and hone their skills.

Before the war, the IT industry was one of the promising sectors of Gaza's economy and a rare source of foreign income, remarked Ahmad Abu Qamar, an economic affairs specialist and board member of the Palestinian Economists Syndicate.

It was additionally an opportunity for employment for thousands of university graduates entering a job market with high unemployment, with roughly 80 percent of its economic activities directed towards foreign markets.

While more than 70 percent of IT firms in Gaza have completely or partially halted operations, abu Qamar estimates that the IT sector now runs at less than 25 percent of pre-war levels.

But even if a company's offices or equipment survived the war on Gaza, damage to digital infrastructure has additionally produced it tough for businesses to continue functioning.

Rates of some technical equipment – including computers, mobile devices, servers, routers, fibre-optic lines, and cabling – employed in the industry have rose by more than 600 percent due to the difficulties of importing devices during Israel's ongoing siege on the enclave.

According to his estimates, regarding 30, 000 IT professionals have lost their jobs since the war began. General unemployment is at almost 80 percent and poverty at more than 90 percent in the enclave.

Meanwhile, a severe shortage of vital IT equipment – such as storage devices, routers, and laptops – has been compounded by the destruction of supporting internet and electricity infrastructure, including primary and secondary networks, according to technology and digital economy expert Abdullah Altahrawi with the UCAS Technology Incubator. This makes the task of rebuilding Gaza's IT sector an even bigger challenge than before the war, particularly with Israel's more crippling siege on Gaza.

"The repercussions have extended to dealings with foreign markets, including the purchase of servers and electronic services, the management of digital accounts, the use of cards and e-commerce, " Altahrawi remarked.

Before the war, Gaza's five main incubators provided training, mentoring, workspaces and backing for tech startups. Perhaps most crucially, it additionally provided students a place to develop their skills, connect with foreign markets, and find job opportunities.

Just two incubators – the UCAS Technology Incubator, affiliated with the University College of Applied Sciences, and the Ma'an Center for Innovation and Entrepreneurship Incubator, have resumed operations since the October 2025 ceasefire. But their capacity has not managed to exceed 20 percent of pre-2023 levels.

While only 10 percent of business incubators have an operational office space, due to the damage caused by three years of Israeli bombing and a shortage of real estate, just 1 percent of technology firms now have offices.

Firms looking to rebuild and universities ready to teach a new cohort of tech students have additionally been hit by a brain drain in the sector, severely hindering development and innovation.

"More than 80 percent of highly skilled and experienced professionals in the technology and digital fields have left the Gaza Strip, " Altahrawi remarked. "Gaza's future is inseparable from its ability to restore and develop its technology sector."

Taken together, the developments around lacking equipment, but not ambition: Gaza students try to keep up with point to a situation that is still moving, and the coming days should bring more clarity.