“The Palestinian startup ecosystem is in its early stages and still maturing,” reads a July 11 report by the World Bank. It called the Palestinian situation “relatively similar” to those of Lebanon and Tanzania, explaining that startup creation in Palestine has increased by 34% since 2009. One Israeli newspaper reported that it takes only 15 days to establish a tech startup in Palestine compared to at least 30 days in Lebanon and Tanzania.

More Palestinian young entrepreneurs have turned to online projects and invested in technology in the absence of job opportunities due to the ongoing Israeli siege on the Gaza Strip. Unemployment in the enclave has reached 49.1% and 18.3% in the West Bank.

On May 17, the Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics and the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology said in a joint press statement, “The data from the 2017 census indicated that the number of establishments that work in the information technology and communications sector accounted for 1,008 of the total [158,573] economic operating establishments in Palestine, while this sector employed 9,200 workers of the total [444,034] employees in 2017.”

Al-Monitor talked to Mohammed Kodeih, the 27-year-old founder of the Gaza-based branding consultancy Haweya. He said, “The technology sector in Gaza is constantly evolving and is attracting more investments since it does not require one to travel through the border crossings. It relies only on the internet. Tech startup owners can reach clients in the Arab and international market through paid advertising on social media networks and Google and through their personal relations with foreign companies.”