At 6:45 a.m. on Oct. 7, Jack Bigio, the founder of the technology company UBQ Materials, talked to his chief operating officer, who said terrorists were on his kibbutz. Other employees texted that they were hiding in safe rooms, and one said her husband had been shot in the stomach.
“It was like doomsday,” Mr. Bigio said.
The attack by Hamas on Israel forced UBQ Materials to shut its plant, 20 miles from the Gaza border, and left its work force in shock. Two employees were murdered. Many lost their homes and were relocated 100 miles away.
Founded in 2012, UBQ Materials uses technology that turns household garbage into a plastic substitute used to make tables, chairs, McDonald’s trays and car parts for Mercedes-Benz. The company was able to get up and running within three weeks, but many others are facing continuing problems with operations and financing.
About 23,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israel since Oct. 7, according to the Gazan health ministry, which does not distinguish between deaths of civilians and fighters. About a million evacuees from the territory’s north have fled south. The strip has suffered widespread destruction, with hunger; disruption of water, electricity and communications networks; and limited medical care as many hospitals have sustained damage.
In Israel, the Hamas attacks on Oct. 7 killed 1,200 people and resulted in hundreds being taken hostage, including more than 100 who are still held in Gaza, according to the Israeli authorities. The war has upended life, as hundreds of thousands of reserve soldiers were called up, and 200,000 people have been displaced from border areas in the north and south.
In ways that are often less visible outside the country, the war has also hurt Israel’s economy. Tourism has come to a virtual standstill, and government spending has jumped. The hit to tech companies has shaken confidence in a sector that has become a key driver of Israel’s economy.
