At the end of October, during the first communications blackout that Gaza suffered since the start of Israel's military offensive, Egyptian writer and
influencer
Mirna El Helbawi set out to look for alternatives to reestablish connections in the Strip.
In collaboration with the Palestinian Red Crescent and the help of its hundreds of thousands of followers on social media, El Helbawi first tried to lobby for satellite internet company Starlink to provide connectivity.
But that option never came to fruition.
When he told his followers, he received a message from a user who suggested another possibility: eSIMs, a digital version of the classic SIM cards that are inserted into mobile phones, but that can be connected to a telephone and internet network. remotely thanks to a chip that is already integrated into the newest smartphones.
El Helbawi had used them on some trips and decided to check if they would also work in Gaza.
He bought two and sent the QR codes generated with his purchase to two well-known journalists in the Strip, Ahmed El-Madhoun and Hind Khoudary.
Upon verifying that he was able to activate them successfully, he took the step of launching an online campaign, #ConnectingGaza, asking people to buy more eSIMs to prevent Gaza from being plunged into total information darkness.
To date, El Helbawi and 10 other trusted people in Egypt, leading the Connecting Humanity initiative, have managed to send more than 130,000 eSIMs to Gaza, worth more than 2.5 million dollars (2.3 million of euros).
Surprised and pleased with the pace, they say demands are increasing as staying connected in the Strip becomes more difficult due to continued Israeli airstrikes, the destruction of the territory's infrastructure and energy shortages.
We haven't taken a day off since we started, because we always have a high demand and we need to connect more people so they can continue talking to their loved ones, to the hospitals, to the world
Mirna El Helbawi, Connecting Humanity
“When I started this initiative I thought I would send a maximum of 1,000 eSIMs, but I was surprised by the number of people who requested them and the importance they have,” says El Helbawi.
“That's why we haven't taken a day off since we started, because we always have a high demand and we need to connect more people so they can continue talking to their loved ones, to the hospitals, to the world,” he adds.
Information to survive
Since Israel launched its military offensive in Gaza, this Palestinian territory has suffered at least 10 almost total communication blackouts that have lasted between a few hours and several days, according to the NetBlocks observatory.
The longest blackout so far began on January 12, and although mobile communications began to be restored in most of Gaza on the 19th, internet connections are working with great difficulty at the time of writing this article.
Alp Toker, director of NetBlocks, assures that the direct reasons for these blackouts are not always easy to determine.
But he points out that they are mostly due to direct attacks on telecommunications infrastructure and power outages.
“We have seen claims that Israel is cutting it off, which is possible.
It may also be shutting down for structural reasons or power issues,” says Toker.
The consequences are vast.
Without an internet connection or mobile network, it is very difficult for Gazans to find out about the status of the Israeli offensive, know the areas most exposed to its bombings, know where to go in case of evacuation or simply communicate with their loved ones to find out if they are fine.
Blackouts also make the work of emergency services difficult, as they have a much more difficult time receiving calls, locating and accessing injured people and people in need.
And they also hinder the work of humanitarian aid agencies and journalists.
Mohammed Saleem, a 32-year-old Gazan activist, has been able to stay connected in recent months thanks to six eSIMs sent by El Helbawi's team.
“As a displaced person, I constantly follow the news, especially those related to evacuation orders issued by the Israeli army, the consequences of which can lead to the death of civilians if they are not informed,” says Saleem, who is currently in Rafah, in the south of the Strip, after having fled Gaza City.
eSIMs last an average of two weeks.
“eSIMs have become one of our essential tools here, as young people and as activists.
We use them to communicate with families in the Gaza and northern governorates, due to the lack of mobile phones.
They also help us publish news, and my journalist friends send photos and videos.
Charitable organizations use them to facilitate the delivery of aid and communicate with donors,” details the Gazan, involved in the distribution of tents, food and sanitary items to the displaced.
They have trusted people in Gaza – who they refer to as human routers – who are in charge of distributing the codes throughout the Strip.
One of the keys to the initiative promoted by El Helbawi is the ease of donating eSIM from anywhere in the world.
In this sense, the donor only has to buy one through the telephone companies operating in the Strip, forward the QR code that is given to the team of volunteers in Egypt, and wait for someone to connect.
The El Helbawi team has also created guides and a website to detail the steps.
At first, the Egyptian company requested the telephone data of people who were close to those it had connected with an eSIM to extend the network.
But now they have trusted people in Gaza – referred to as human routers – who are in charge of distributing the codes throughout the Strip and who help activate them.
“In the first four or five days, we gave priority to journalists and medical personnel.
But then we realized that communications and internet access are a basic human right, so we started sending and activating eSIM to everyone,” notes El Helbawi.
The messages of gratitude, some of which he shares on social media, reach him from all over the Strip.
“Hello, Mirna!
This is the fifth day of a total cutoff of communications and internet access in Gaza.
I just wanted to thank you for keeping us connected to the world,” she reads in one.
“We couldn't contact them for the last 80 days.
Today is the happiest day!
We just video called them with an eSIM,” says another.
Samah Serour Fadil, a Palestinian writer in the United States, explains that during the first blackout in October she lost contact with her cousin in Gaza, and it was thanks to El Helbawi's profile that she discovered eSIMs and was able to buy one and send it to her loved one with hoping he could activate it when he regained connection.
“She was also my link to the other members of my family there.
That moment was the most stressful and distressing of my life until then,” she recalls.
Even before he was sure it was going to work, Fadil wrote on his X profile about eSIMs, and offered to help more people try to connect their loved ones.
“I was expecting a dozen eSIMs at most, but I woke up to literally hundreds in my inbox,” she recalls.
“This is my role: to communicate and connect people.
“I feel proud and honored to help in any way I can,” she says.
Boundaries
Although eSIMs are allowing tens of thousands of people in Gaza to stay connected, some have urged caution.
SMEX, an organization that defends and promotes human rights in digital spaces in the Middle East and North Africa, has warned of the risk that the privacy of the donor or recipient of the eSIM is compromised, or that it is used malicious.
But so far no cases have been reported, and El Helbawi assures that the team of volunteers leading the initiative is small precisely to minimize some of these risks.
The cuts to internet and telephone services in Gaza have also shown how its connectivity depends directly on Israel, largely because the blockade has prevented the development of its infrastructure and new technologies.
The Gaza Communications Ministry has also asked Egyptian authorities to use towers and mobile stations near the border with the Strip to offer some service, at least in the southern part of the enclave, but so far no steps have been taken on this address.
“[Gaza's] basic infrastructure is largely dependent on Israel, and there is no major connectivity link with Egypt, mainly for geopolitical reasons,” says NetBlocks' Toker.
“In theory, they could throw a line and connect through Egypt, but Egypt as a state has not necessarily supported [this option],” he adds.
Faced with this widespread blockade of longer-range alternatives and the rapid deterioration of the humanitarian situation in Gaza, the demand for eSIM is skyrocketing in recent days, due to the blackout that began on January 12.
“When people feel insecure and don't know how to communicate, they panic, and keep asking for more eSIMs,” El Helbawi slides.
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