Gaza’s Bike Couriers Keep Rolling Amid Danger and Low Pay

By&nbspMohammed Nashbat&nbspwith&nbspEuronews Arabic

Published on
17/09/2026 – 11:56 GMT+2

Gaza’s delivery workers, pedaling through rubble on bicycles, can spend 40 of their 50‑shekel (€12) daily income fixing a single puncture.

Between 40 and 50 bicycle couriers have lost their lives in the Israel‑Hamas war, yet roughly 400 continue to ferry packages across shattered streets and ongoing bombardment.

Fuel shortages, disrupted transport, and the devastation of Gaza’s road network have turned bicycles—locally known as “baskleet”—into the Strip’s primary delivery method.

Workers interviewed by Euronews at Hamama, one of the main delivery firms operating in Gaza, described a job defined by relentless pressure: the physical strain of cycling through debris, the constant cost of repairs, and the peril of navigating areas still under bombardment.

In central Gaza’s Maghazi district, Mohammed Abu Amra rides for the delivery company Barq. Trips that once took him under ten minutes by motorbike now require 30 minutes or more on a bicycle, with heat, rain, poor road conditions, and long distances adding to the difficulty.

Tareq Abu Zekri founded Barq during the second ceasefire in January 2025, then expanded by hiring workers who used their own bicycles. When he posted a call for riders, 109 applications arrived within a day and a half, including university graduates with few other prospects in what remains of Gaza’s labor market. The company now employs more than 50 people across three branches in Gaza City, central Gaza, and Khan Younis.

Orders are moved between areas by whatever means are available before couriers handle local deliveries, covering shop orders as well as goods sold from tents and homes.

Bicycle delivery existed before the 2023 Israel‑Hamas war: a pilot project in Rafah began in March 2021, and since October 2023 bicycles have become the standard as fuel has dwindled and vehicles have been destroyed.

Repairs That Cost More Than a Day’s Work

Abbas Al‑Souri estimates his daily earnings at between 50 and 60 shekels (€12 to €14), depending on how many orders he completes.

A puncture repair costs between 30 and 40 shekels (€7 to €10). A worker who earns 50 shekels and pays 40 to fix a tyre is left with 10 shekels—roughly €2.

Larger repairs are far more expensive. Abu Zekri estimates that fixing wheels, hubs and pedals runs between 200 and 500 shekels (€48 to €120), depending on what needs replacing.

Spare parts are unreliable. When a bicycle breaks down, workers strip components from bikes too damaged to ride and use them to keep others operational.

“From broken bikes to other bikes—it’s patchwork on top of patchwork,” Al‑Souri said.

A joint assessment released in April 2026 by the World Bank, the European Union and the United Nations found that about 74% of Gaza’s road network—approximately 4,500 kilometres—has been classified as destroyed, with another 13% partially damaged.

The assessment put total damage to the transport sector at roughly $3.21 billion (€2.97 billion) and losses at around $1.18 billion (€1.09 billion), covering roads, bridges, vehicles and transport facilities. The figures reflect damage recorded up to October 2025, derived mainly from satellite imagery.

Barq tried introducing electric bicycles to ease the strain on workers, but the experiment stalled when charging costs proved prohibitive: powering an electric bike costs about 30 shekels (€7)—roughly half a day’s earnings.

Danger Beyond Breakdowns

On 29 August, delivery worker Raed Adel Mohammed Alyan was killed alongside Abdel Fattah Abu Al‑Eesh when a strike hit an electric bike in the Tel al‑Hawa neighbourhood of southwest Gaza City, according to local reports citing medical and local sources. Three others were wounded, one critically.

Alyan worked for the Hamama delivery company and was on a delivery run at the time, according to the company’s director Jamil Al‑Yazji.

Al‑Yazji said earlier this month that between 40 and 50 of his workers had been killed since the war began, and that about 400—including roughly 300 in Gaza City—were still working on bicycles. The figure refers to Hamama staff only.

Abu Zekri said some of his workers were wounded in a strike in Khan Younis and others narrowly escaped shelling near them in the Al‑Jalaa area of Gaza City.

Despite the losses, both companies continue to take on new workers. For Abu Zekri, the initiative is partly about providing income when other options have vanished. What workers need to keep going, he said, is simple: passable roads, repairable bicycles and available spare parts.

“Let us bring in pedals, half‑frames, tyres and patches for the bikes,” he said.

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