Gaza programmers use technology to solve wartime problems

In a corner of the Taqat Gaza co-working space, Saja al-Ghoul, 23, is hard at work on her new mobile app. She and her colleagues focus on creating applications that could help solve everyday challenges in this Palestinian territory.

Saja's app, "Waselni" (Arabic for "take me to my destination"), aims to reduce traffic problems Gazans face. The app allows people to share rides and coordinate routes to cut transport costs, which have surged in recent months. It also includes a prepaid digital wallet to address the worsening cash crisis brought on by war.

"Anyone can propose a trip — for example, from the al-Shifa area to as-Saraya in central Gaza City at 8 a.m. — and others can join that trip and share the cost," Saja explains.

Meanwhile, Bahaa al-Mallahi, 26, a information systems graduate, is developing an app that tackles another common wartime problem: missing belongings. "People lose nearly everything during evacuation," Bahaa says. "Personal belongings, official documents, phones, bags… Sometimes it's things of little material value but extremely important to the owner."

Bahaa noticed that recovering lost items has become extremely difficult, with calls for lost items flooding social media platforms. He conceived a dedicated digital platform for lost items, called "Rajja'li" (Arabic for "return to me").

"If you find something, you post it on the platform. If you lose something, you search there," Bahaa explains. He is also planning to expand the platform to include cases of missing children during evacuations or in overcrowded situations — an increasingly common occurrence in Gaza. "Every day we see notices about missing children," Bahaa says. "If a child goes missing in a specific area, an instant notification can be sent to nearby users with a photo and description of the child."

Both Saja and Bahaa face several challenges during app development. Saja's app requires widespread adoption to be effective, and she admits it needs support from local authorities. Bahaa says he needs cooperation from official agencies to build trust for his lost-document platform.

Development costs are also a heavy burden for young programmers in Gaza, especially as many new projects rely on paid AI tools. "We need AI subscriptions, and these are extremely expensive," Bahaa says. "Even basic services have become paid, and prices keep rising."

Bahaa previously worked as a network engineer for a local internet company but lost his job after the war began. He has tried to find remote work with companies outside Gaza but says it is nearly impossible. With worsening economic conditions, many young talents are trapped by unemployment, constant power and internet outages, and rising working costs. "Today, internet and electricity have become luxuries," he says. He also notes the high cost of co-working spaces that programmers increasingly depend on: "You pay hundreds of shekels a month just to have a place with electricity and internet."

For engineer Sharif Naeem, founder and CEO of Taqat Gaza, the initiative is a direct response to the collapse of Gaza's tech sector after the war. "Taqat is essentially a response to a real problem faced by remote workers in Gaza: the lack of safe places with electricity and internet," Naeem says.

When the war began, thousands of freelancers and programmers lost the ability to work after infrastructure was destroyed, and communications and power were cut for extended periods. Naeem founded Taqat Gaza as a small co-working space, later expanding to multiple locations across Gaza. By early 2025, the organization opened its main headquarters in Gaza City, serving about 250 freelancers and programmers.

Over time, those behind Taqat Gaza realized that the crisis was no longer just about electricity or workspace. The bigger issue was the massive technical knowledge gap caused by the war. "We discovered that the war has created a huge knowledge gap," Naeem says. "The tech world has advanced rapidly over the past two years, while young people in Gaza have been busy trying to survive."

Many programmers returning to work find themselves lagging behind global market demands for skills, tools, and modern technologies, especially amid the AI boom. Taqat has evolved from a workspace into a training and incubation hub for young programmers. Naeem says many app ideas come directly from the young people's own experiences. "The young people here aren't building fanciful projects," he says. "They're building solutions to problems they face every day."

Still, the road ahead remains difficult. Alongside weak electricity and internet infrastructure, developers face major financial and technical barriers. Naeem believes Gaza's tech sector still has recovery potential if given the right environment and adequate support. "We have enormous human potential," he says. "The problem isn't a lack of talent, but a lack of real investment in that talent."