Editor's Note: This is the second in a six-week series focused on women and work in patriarchal nations in the Middle East. In the next few weeks BBC Capital will peek into the world of women trying to grow businesses in the region and the Middle Eastern women who have found success in the West.

Bombings, power outages, shaky infrastructure, destroyed roads and eroding rights are just a few challenges women face in Gaza.

The Palestinian territory on the Mediterranean coast flanked by Israel and Egypt, has seen three wars in six years. And women face day-to-day restrictions that men don't. In recent years, the democratically elected ruling party Hamas has mandated gender segregation in schools, enforced a dress code for female university students and banned women from running in the Gaza marathon.

Yet, with the help of aid agencies such as MercyCorps, a few women have forged ahead with businesses as part of Gaza's first startup accelerator, Gaza Sky Geeks (GSG). In 2014, it launched a mentoring programme aimed specifically at women. Today, nearly 50% of startups in GSG's pipeline are led by women. In contrast, just 5% of tech startups in the United States have women at the helm.

Surprisingly, for women entrepreneurs, there are some things that come easier than they do for their male counterparts. For more on that and a look at the women forging a path in Gaza, watch the video above.

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