Virtual cards for Gaza

2023-12-30 22:49:11

On December 26, the Gaza Strip was again plunged into darkness. Incessant Israeli airstrikes cut off access to telephone and internet services, cutting nearly two million of its residents off from the outside world. It was the eighth mass blackout since October 27, when Israel announced that its Armed Forces were “expanding the ground operation”. This method has become another weapon of war to try to silence what is happening in the besieged enclave.

However, the Gazians have found a way of not being isolated. These are the ESIM, a tiny virtual card integrated on mobile phones that improve access to the network. With the Hebrew State’s military offensive intensifying, Egyptian writer and activist Mirna El Helbawi anticipated this connectivity problem and, following a suggestion from one of her followers on X, launched a global donation campaign per mantenir els palestins comunicats. According to his oenagé, Connecting Humanity, they have helped between 50,000 and 200,000 people.

“The connection is not stable, but it works,” explained Samar Labad, a resident of the town of Rafah, to the AFP agency. “At least we can be in touch for reassurance, even if it’s intermittent.” Telecommunications are crucial for Gazans to know what is happening around them and to keep in touch with their loved ones.

Useful technology

eSIMs are the software version of traditional SIM cards. Instead of plugging into a cell phone slot, the user can simply scan a QR code to activate the plan that connects them to a wireless network. However, in order to do so they must have Internet access, which can create initial complications. According to The Guardian, Israel has been suppressing the use of these cards for almost a decade.

The campaign promoted by El Helbawi from Cairo requires the cooperation of donors. They buy the eSIMs from suppliers in their countries and send the QR code to the 31-year-old activist, who activates the card and shares the code with Gazans. The results lead other enclave residents to contact the 11 activists who make up Connecting Humanity, replicating a process that serves to spread the campaign.

This technology, presented to society at the Mobile World Congress in Barcelona in 2016, thus allows them to connect in roaming mode to remote networks – mostly Israeli or Egyptian – and avoid the blockade affecting the main Palestinian telephone operators. The price of each eSIM can range from $15 to $100 and its validity time is limited.

Another way to guarantee connectivity to Gaza would be the satellite Internet offered by Starlink, an initiative by Elon Musk. In late October, the tech mogul said it would deploy its services to the enclave to assist “internationally recognized aid organizations.” His promise outraged the Israeli government of Benjamin Netanyahu, who pressed Musk. At the end of November, the two parties announced an agreement for the satellites to be activated only with the approval of Jerusalem. This convinced the Helbawi of the need for his campaign.

Communicative asphyxia

On October 11, Israel ordered to cut off the supply of electricity, but also of food and fuel, in the Gaza Strip. Since then, the enclave has faced connectivity below 30% of pre-conflict levels, according to data from IODA, Cloudflare and Netblocks. This isolation can be caused by airstrikes against the operators’ vital infrastructure, such as their telecommunications towers, by blocking the lines or by fuel shortages, three ways in which Israel suffocates the population of Gaza.

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Human Rights Watch has warned that the cuts can “cover up atrocities and create impunity,” but also undermine humanitarian efforts and put lives at risk. A few hours before Tuesday’s off, Israeli bombs killed at least 80 people at the Maghazi refugee camp.

Access to eSIMs is also intended to prevent the silencing of Palestinian suffering, which is why reporters use them daily to report on the devastating human impact of Israel’s bombings. “Without the cards we would be isolated from the world,” local journalist Hani al-Shaer told AFP. “And no one would know what is happening in Gaza”, he points out to finish.