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Gazans use eSIMs to stay online

Gazans eSIMs

Khalil Salim was desperate to get his family to safety as war raged across the Gaza Strip.

He needed up-to-date information, so he went online, checking official social media accounts of the Israeli army and other sources. “We would take instructions from the internet.

We couldn’t assess the internal fighting, so we would follow the news and channels and look at Facebook and see what people wrote,” Salim said. Amid the bombs, fuel shortages, and blackouts, Gazans are struggling to stay online while under siege. Communications are vital for updating families outside the region and connecting with what emergency services remain.

eSIMs, a non-physical way to activate a cell phone on a cellular network, have become an imperfect workaround. Gaza has experienced multiple internet blackouts in recent weeks, including during Israeli military operations in the region. The destruction of infrastructure and dwindling fuel supplies have compounded the issue.

“Telecommunications in the Palestinian territory were bad even before the most recent bombings started,” said Marwa Fatafta, MENA Policy and Advocacy Director at Access Now. Israel has long restricted the kinds of technology Gazans can access, similar to its control over water, electricity, and fuel. “It’s very difficult for Gazans to access the internet, to have access to news and understand what’s going on,” said Fatafta.

“They are effectively disconnected from the rest of the world. Internet and telecommunications access is essential in times of war, because you need access to life-saving information.”

Fatafta explained that Palestinian telecoms have been denied the ability to upgrade their networks. “They’re still running on 2G networks,” she said.

“So even before the current siege, people relied on very slow and insecure mobile connections.”

The West Bank only upgraded from 2G to 3G in 2018 after 12 years of negotiation between Palestinians and Israel. “All the internet and telecommunications cables that connect Gaza to the rest of the world run through Israel,” she added. This control has made it easy for Israel to shut off communications in the Gaza Strip as it continues its campaign to bomb the region in retaliation for Hamas’ Oct.

7 attack, which killed roughly 1,200 Israelis. So far, the bombings have killed over 11,000 Gazans. Amid mobile and landline blackouts, some people found a unique solution: eSIMs.

“eSIMs are very similar to a regular SIM card, except they are not physical,” said Hanna Kreitem, a senior advisor at the Internet Society. “They can be moved between devices using a special code, removing the need to be physically present to receive a SIM card.”

After Gazans lost the ability to communicate, people on the outside organized to get the eSIMs to help keep them online. Egyptian journalist Mirna El Helbawi, for instance, organized a group that purchased eSIMs and sent them to Gaza.

The idea was that Gazans would activate the eSIMs on their phones and connect to cell towers outside of Gaza to stay online.

eSIMs offer critical connection solutions

Several guides compiled by activists on social media explain how to do this: the purchaser first selects a prepaid eSIM from a service like Simly, Holafly, or Nomad.

The buyer is then sent a QR code, which is used to activate the digital SIM. This code is then sent to an organizer distributing the codes to people in Gaza. The recipient can scan and use the code with an app, enabling them to connect to supported cell towers and get online.

The practice has become a vital, if highly unstable lifeline for Gazans during the Israeli siege, when communication networks have been partially or completely unavailable. “At its best, internet availability has been at 15 percent for the past month. There were days where the whole internet was not available,” Kreitem said.

“The only way is to utilize the spillover effect of mobile signals and connect to cell towers from neighboring areas, mainly Israel and Egypt.”

A significant drawback to using eSIMs is the need for an initial internet connection, a rarity in Gaza right now. “Is this a sustainable solution? Definitely not.

Is this scalable? Also definitely not,” Kreitem added. “It’s based on spillover.

It is, by definition, not stable.”

Fatafta emphasized the importance of communications during Israel’s bombing campaign. “Having access to the internet has been a real struggle in Gaza, a direct result of bombardment of internet and telecommunications infrastructure. There’s been a lot of damage and destruction of cell towers, cables, even offices of internet service providers.”

Fuel has also been a major problem.

“Last week the major Palestinian telecommunications company, Paltel Group, announced they’re running out of fuel and as a result, can no longer provide their services,” Fatafta said. Israel has also deliberately shut down communications in the region as a tactic in the siege. “Being shut off from communications infrastructure makes it impossible to call for help in an emergency.

For humanitarian organizations, it’s been a struggle to stay connected with operations and teams on the ground in Gaza.”

“When the internet is out, information is suppressed,” Fatafta added. “There aren’t many foreign correspondents on the ground, except those attached to Israeli military operations, and those have to run their materials by the IDF.”

Even with eSIMs, the situation remains dire. “Those who managed to connect are really struggling to find a signal.

You have to go to the rooftop or move from one location to another to catch a weak signal,” she said, which is life-endangering due to Israeli snipers and missiles. “eSIMs have been a hit or miss solution. But so far, they have worked to let people stay connected,” Fatafta said.

“It’s a solution to an extent, but you cannot connect two million people in Gaza over eSIM cards.”

Mason Carter

Mason Carter is a sharp-witted venture capital and startup analyst whose columns provide cutting-edge insights into the world of entrepreneurship and investment.
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