2023-12-27 03:37:56
RAFAH: Without eSIMs, Gazans would be “cut off from the world” and “no one would know what is happening in the Gaza Strip.” Like many Palestinians, Hani al-Shaer purchased a virtual chip to cope with frequent phone and internet outages.
Tuesday, for the fourth time since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas, all telecommunications were interrupted, according to the Palestinian operator Paltel.
The dematerialized chip is the gateway for Gaza residents to communicate with the outside world. These eSIMs are purchased by families living abroad.
The principle is simple, to activate the card you must scan the QR code sent by the loved one with a cell phone camera compatible with the system. The user then connects in roaming mode to a foreign network, often Israeli, sometimes Egyptian.
The use of eSIM is almost essential to stay connected since the Israeli army shelled the Gaza Strip following the bloody attack perpetrated by Hamas on October 7 on Israeli soil, killing around 1,140 people, mostly civilians. according to Israeli authorities.
In retaliation, Israel, which has sworn to “annihilate” Hamas, is carrying out bombings and a ground offensive in the small territory where more than 20,915 people, mostly civilians, have been killed, according to the latest report from the Hamas government.
Search for victims
For more than a week, Samar Labad “lost contact” with his family.
Her brother who lives in Belgium ended up sending her an eSIM, says the 38-year-old mother, who had to flee with her three children from Gaza City and the fighting to settle in Rafah, in the south, where Tens of thousands of displaced people are crowded into makeshift camps.
“The communication is not stable, but it does the job,” she confides. “At least we stay in touch with each other for reassurance, even if intermittently.”
On the other hand, she cannot directly contact her relatives who live in Khan Younès. “I hear from them thanks to a person who lives with them and whose phone is compatible with the eSIM.”
It is not enough to have a virtual chip to guarantee communication. The service is only available in areas close to the borders with Israel where you have to climb onto roofs to receive a signal.
In his mobile phone store, Ibrahim Mukhaimar mainly sees journalists passing by.
They “use eSIMs to transmit to the world the real situation, in particular the fact that the occupation has deliberately sought to conceal what is happening in the Gaza Strip”, he denounces. “Show that there is a lack of basic products necessary for its survival,” adds the trader.
In addition to reporters, “there are also doctors and civil defense employees who seek to know the exact location of the strikes to help people,” notes Ibrahim Mukhaimar. In addition, there are employees of the UN agency for Palestinian refugees, “UNRWA, who need them to organize aid convoys,” he explains.
“World Cups”
If these virtual chips compensate for telecommunications outages, the irony is that you need the internet to activate them. “It can take us two or three hours,” explains Yasser Qudieh, image reporter (JRI).
The price of the card varies between “15 and 100 dollars, depending on the validity period, which ranges from one week to two months,” he specifies. To “get better Wi-Fi service,” prices can skyrocket.
“Without these eSim cards, we would be cut off from the world and no one would know what is happening in the Gaza Strip,” says Hani al-Shaer, local journalist, who also uses them to carry out his “live broadcasts in 4G or 5G “.
At the end of October, the NGO Human Rights Watch (HRW) warned that telecommunications and internet cuts in the Gaza Strip risked “serving as a cover for mass atrocities and contributing to impunity for rights violations humans.”
In addition to documenting the war, Palestinian journalists with eSIMs serve as messengers.
“Many expats contact us to follow the latest news in the Gaza Strip and get information regarding their families, and we reassure them and inform them regarding the bombing sites when Palestinian service providers are not working,” explains Yasser Qudieh .
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