From Hunger to Hacking: Gaza Market Floods with Spy Phones

 Smartphones in Gaza: Drain or Surveillance

Israel has permitted the entry of tens of thousands of smartphones, especially the "iPhone 17 Pro Max," which can cost approximately 2200$.

This issue has produced a huge media commotion over the previous two days, as the demand for it is very great and large transactions are being made to buy it.

And Israel is bringing in huge quantities of supplies to the Gaza Strip, with a minimal entry of food, meat, baby formula, and building materials aimed at the rebuilding effort, with the second phase arriving following the transfer of the last Israeli body today.

The situation definitely poses controversial questions.

Additionally, Israel is bringing in substantial cargoes to the Gaza Strip in return for a limited amount of food, meat, infant formula, and building supplies intended for the rehabilitation operation, with the goal of moving into the second phase following the delivery of the final Israeli body for today.

The situation has truly raised controversial questions.

 Flood of phones sparks concerns, questions

Many concerns have been raised regarding the impact of mobile phones that flooded the Gaza Strip, especially after the import of these goods was halted for a long period and no phone reached the Gaza Strip.

However, the first phase of the truce was implemented, and all means of welfare were terminated, leaving only hunger, disasters, broken tents, and a lot of ruins.

Then, huge quantities of the latest "iPhone Pro Max" and "Samsung Ultra 25S" models join the market.

 Despite the fact that people in Gaza struggle to afford even one kilogram of meat at 18$, the sudden influx of smartphones raises troubling questions. This flood of devices appears disconnected from the daily hardships they face. Many believe the Israeli government has a deliberate strategy: using these phones as tools of surveillance. Rather than deploying soldiers, the devices themselves could act as electronic agents, enabling effortless collection and identification of information through their owners.

Many activists have commented that this could be a new pager system in Gaza, similar to Lebanon, which could backfire on its users.

Such a scenario is likely to continue in Gaza.

 AppCloud secretly tracks users’ precise locations

Some Samsung phones, especially the Galaxy A and Galaxy M series made for the Middle East and North Africa markets, have an Israeli app called AppCloud pre-installed on them without the users' knowledge or ability to permanently remove it, according to a recent report by the SMEX organization.

The application, developed by the Israeli business Iron Source, offers comprehensive rights that allow access to users' geographical position, IP addresses, And device fingerprints, without clear permission or a transparent privacy policy.

This comes in light of a before comment by Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who said, "Anyone who carries a mobile phone carries a piece of Israel in their hands."

Digital security experts say that AppCloud is firmly embedded into the operating system, making it difficult to disable except partially trough settings, while deleting the program fully needs root access, which violates the phone's warranty.

These conveniences present concerns connected to user observation, especially in conflict situations.

This is exactly what was done in the war on the Gaza Strip, targeting civilians via their old mobile phones, many of whom were slain by artificial intelligence only for being suspected of owning the phone.

Consider what might occur with improved and current technology.

Economic drain strips Gaza market liquidity

Given that the Gazan market suffers from a liquidity problem, the influx of smartphones at unnaturally high prices shows that the occupation is attempting to cause a crisis and remove liquidity.

The "fika" (change) is a process of draining financial liquidity inside the industry, as it realizes that the war has led to an influx of financial quantities to Gaza, whether from individual donations, relief projects, or transfers from abroad.

The population's limited resources are destroyed when phones, which are costly consumer goods, are allowed to enter the market.

He subsequently states that "flooding the market with mobile phones not only aims to direct people to spend what little they have left, but also provides a direct benefit to the Israeli economy, as most of these devices pass via supply chains controlled by or benefiting Tel Aviv."

Or benefitting from it, this is how the mobile phone turns into a weapon that returns liquidity from Gaza toward the Israeli economy.

It does, however, have a safety element that tracks and monitors all of the movements of Hamas members and civilians.