Courtesy of Jawwal
In Gaza, connectivity is not just a technological service – it’s a lifeline for survival and hope. Since the onset of the aggression on the Gaza Strip, widespread destruction has pushed the telecommunications sector to the brink of collapse, threatening near-total isolation for the population. With over 80 percent of networks damaged, communication blackouts have disrupted access to essential services, including healthcare, humanitarian aid, education, media, and emergency response.
These severe disruptions have deepened the humanitarian crisis, leaving families struggling to stay in contact with one another and with the outside world. Communication gaps have complicated medical coordination, relief delivery, and information sharing, reinforcing how critical connectivity is to survival, safety, and social resilience in times of aggression and destruction.
Amid these unprecedented circumstances, communications became a crucial factor for many sectors to continue providing their services. The health sector relied on them to facilitate its work, reach victims, transport them, and register their information. The media also depended on communications to convey the grim reality and amplify the voices of Gaza’s residents.
Since its establishment in 1995 as the first Palestinian company to provide telecommunications services in Palestine, Jawwal has been committed to transcending barriers and leading Palestine into the future of connectivity and digitization by providing the latest mobile, home internet, and business services at the highest quality to empower Palestinians to thrive in an interconnected world. Built and driven by Palestinian talent and expertise, Jawwal stands as a testament to Palestinian resilience, continuously overcoming challenges to fulfil its mission of bringing Palestinians closer to each other and to the future.
In the field of education, despite all the challenges, many teachers rushed to deliver lessons to students via the internet, which contributed to graduating many students from the secondary level. Likewise, many university students were able to attend their universities remotely and obtain their degrees under the conditions of war.
International and humanitarian organizations worked to deliver essential and relief supplies by communicating with the people of Gaza. Most importantly, communication enabled members of the same family to stay in touch after forced displacement had separated them, becoming a ray of hope that allowed them to reassure one another.
Jawwal’s response to the assault on Gaza has been to rebuild networks – and thereby rebuild lives. The company rehabilitated damaged networks to help families remain in contact and provided free internet access to local service providers to expand Wi-Fi coverage. Jawwal also delivered billions of voice minutes, SMS messages, and unlimited internet packages, ensuring that schools, hospitals, media outlets, and humanitarian centers could continue operating and coordinating their work.
When conventional infrastructure failed, alternative solutions, such as Fixed Wireless Access (FWA), became critical in ensuring continued connectivity. Jawwal combined this with free prepaid credit and emergency service packages, helping to ensure that families, medical facilities, and relief organizations remained reachable even under the most extreme conditions.
These efforts came at great personal cost. Tragically, during their work to reconnect Gaza, two of Jawwal’s technical team lost their lives while performing their duty in some of the most dangerous areas. Their sacrifice underscores the deep commitment and resilience that defined these efforts, not just a technical service, but an unwavering dedication to the people of Gaza.
In recognition of these extraordinary efforts, Jawwal was honored with the Crisis Response Award at the World Communication Awards in London in 2025, a testament not just to technical excellence, but to the unbreakable spirit of Gaza’s people, who continue to survive, rebuild, and connect despite everything.
