A Palestinian startup company touted as a model for Gaza entrepreneurship is struggling to recover after its office was badly damaged last weekend in an Israeli airstrike on a nearby terrorist hub.
The office of Haweya for Information Technology was among dozens of buildings damaged on Saturday in a flare-up violence between Israel and Hamas, the Islamic terrorist group that rules Gaza.
Staffers began this week to clean up the premises, sweeping the shattered glass off the floor, removing destroyed computers and printers and cleaning the dust-covered furniture.
The company was among dozens of houses, a university lab, a mosque and an art gallery damaged when the Israeli military hit what a nearby Hamas training facility.
The startup was featured in an Associated Press story in 2015 as a model of the emerging high-tech entrepreneurship trying to overcome Gaza's isolation and access restrictions.
Haweya was a rare success story in Gaza, having employed 24 young engineers, designers and web developers in a territory where youth unemployment stands at 60%, according to the World Bank.
Its owner and founder, Mohammed Qudih, estimated the damages from the airstrike at around $13,000.
However, buying new equipment may cost more because prices began to spike this week as Israel imposed further restrictions on the coastal strip, with new limitations on its only cargo crossing with Gaza because of the continued hostilities, which include rocket fire on Israeli border towns and raging arson terrorism, which has scorched over 9,000 of acres of forest and farmlands on the Israeli side of the border, causing millions of dollars in damage.
The onslaught of incendiary kites and balloons continued even after Hamas agreed to a cease-fire late on Saturday, sparking dozens of new fires. Israeli authorities say over 1,000 fires have been sparked since the Palestinians launched their arson terrorism campaign in late April. Environmental experts say it will take at least 15 years to rehabilitate the vegetation and wildlife that have been destroyed in these fires.
Qudih said his company has to temporarily shutter operations, calling the timing "unfortunate."
"We are closing for a certain period that I hope won't last for long due to the damage and the materials we lost, which are essential for our work," he said.
"They [Israel] destroyed the company's belongings but did not kill our ambition and dreams," he added.
Israel and Egypt imposed a blockade on Gaza after Hamas seized control of the territory in 2007 in a military coup. Israel maintains the restrictions are crucial to prevent Hamas, which is sworn to Israel's destruction, from acquiring weapons.
