From collapse to coordination: Gaza’s informal digital economy and the future of Palestinian socio-economic resilience

By the time Gaza entered 2026, the numbers told a story that headlines could not contain. The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics reported that 64 per cent of mobile towers were out of service. Paltel, the territory’s largest operator, had lost roughly 80 per cent of its more than 500 cell towers.  The telecommunications sector’s market value collapsed by 89 per cent in a single year, from 13 million dollars in 2023 to just 1.5 million in 2024. In Rafah, mobile coverage sank from near-universal access to just 27 per cent. Reconstruction of the sector alone is now estimated at a minimum of 90 million dollars, with total losses exceeding half a billion. These figures describe a deliberate, systematic dismantling […]