As Palestinians began to return to Gaza after the ceasefire in mid- January ended 15 months of war, attention is now turning to the massive task of reconstruction, which is thought will take multiple decades and billions of dollars. Alan El-Kadhi, director of the Gaza Sky Geeks tech hub, says his plans to arrive in Gaza on October 8, 2023 were derailed by the Hamas attack on Israel a day earlier. The work of the tech hub – a programme under the international humanitarian organisation Mercy Corps – was also halted, but is now starting to offer online training.

Speaking from Jerusalem, where he now lives, El-Kadhi says the initiative was founded in 2011 as an entrepreneurship and startup incubator and accelerator.