Apple's iPhone 17 Pro is a big hit in war-torn Gaza
For the first time in two years, smartphones are available in Gaza via official channels.
A report broadcast Friday by NBC News says that sales of the premium iPhone 17 Pro are beginning to take off in Gaza even though many of the buyers have been displaced and are homeless. The iOS powered smartphones have been available for months in the Gaza Strip and according to UAE newspaper The National, published at the beginning of the month, some Palestinians were quoted as asking, "Why phones, and not food?"
Gaza has homeless men, bombed out homes, and people walking around with the iPhone 17 Pro
The NBC report pointed out that the small size of the iPhone 17 Pro makes the phones easier to import into the Strip than some items that are more sorely needed in the area such as construction materials and baby formula. The National also questioned the priorities of those choosing to import iPhones into the war-torn region instead of materials that could be used to rebuild the area or feed hungry infants.
NBC points out the rather strange optics of seeing Palestinians, many of them jobless and homeless, sick from being malnourished, buying the premium iPhone 17 Pro model. Prices are sky high for smartphones in Gaza where even budget handsets go for as much as 5,000 shekels, equivalent to $1,500. Prices for phones in Gaza are about 10 times higher than the prices seen in other countries. Construction worker Samir Kamal Awad Abou Dakaa, 52, who lives with his wife and five children, asked, "We cannot even afford food — how are we supposed to afford phones?"
There are more questions being asked about why smartphones would be allowed to enter the Strip considering claims made by journalist Hamza Al Shobaki, who alleges that "Israel has a long history of using phones and communication systems for surveillance and intelligence gathering. To allow entry of devices that weren’t permitted even before the war, this raises questions."
Israel prevents those living in the Gaza Strip from accessing cell service faster than 2G
There was a two-year period when phones could not be imported into Gaza via official channels. Tania Hary, executive director of Gisha, the Israeli human rights group, noted that "there is greater demand for phones and also accessories." The Coordination of Government Activities in the Territories (COGAT) told NBC News that it is "fully committed to its obligation to facilitate the entry of humanitarian aid trucks in accordance with the agreement," but did not comment on the phones being sold in the Strip.
Now, for the first time in two years, smartphones are allowed in Gaza via official channels. And iPhone 17 Pro demand is strong in the Strip thanks to the status that the device imparts to some buyers on the Strip.
The contrast between bombed out houses, the homeless wandering the streets, and sales of the iPhone 17 Pro provides an odd but not unusual contrast. "Before the war and during the siege, there were mobile phones and expensive cars. But because of the extra restrictions on the borders, the massive devastation and humanitarian catastrophe, then this paradox comes to light even more," said Mona Jebril, a research fellow at England’s University of Cambridge.
2024's mass pager explosions in Lebanon has left many in the area scared of mobile devices
Even in Gaza, the iPhone is an indispensable tool used by those living on the Strip to follow the news and help teach children. However, it should be pointed out that Gaza's cellular service runs 2G only. That's because Israel has control over the telecom network in Gaza and doesn't allow 3G, 4G, and 5G service. Still. Jebril says that smartphone ownership is more important than ever in Gaza. She calls it essential for studying, emergency communication and for checking on relatives in other parts of the Strip.
The Tabia smartphone store, forced to operate out of a tent-like structure after previous locations were bombed, sells budget models like the Redmi A5 and POCO C71, both made by China’s Xiaomi, up to the iPhone 17 Pro. Farid Kabalan, an economist from Khan Younis, says that "The mobile phone is the only device that conveys the truth to the world, and therefore it is an essential beacon."
20-year-old Mohaned Ahmed Abdel Khafour, who had to buy a new phone when his old one was damaged in the war, said that he uses the phone for reading, work and everything. "Everything needs a phone," he states. But there are many people in Gaza who remain scared of mobile devices after the mass pager explosions that took place in Lebanon during 2024. "After what happened with the pagers, I personally wouldn’t go anywhere near those phones either,” said Hary, the executive director at Gisha, the aforementioned Israeli human rights group.
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