Area under constant fire
Communications in Gaza Strip ‘completely disrupted’
November 1, 2023, 7:22 a.m
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Israel has been carrying out air strikes on the Gaza Strip for weeks. The attacks on Hamas’ infrastructure also affect the basic services of the Palestinians. There is another total telecommunications failure.
In the Gaza Strip, all internet and mobile communications are down again. “We regret (…) to announce that communications and internet services in the Gaza Strip are completely interrupted,” said the Palestinian telecommunications company Paltel on X, formerly Twitter.
The organization Netblocks, which is known for monitoring Internet blocks, also confirmed on X that Internet connections in the Gaza Strip had collapsed. This has a major impact on Paltel. The company is the last major operator still offering services in the coastal area. “The incident is perceived as a total failure of telecommunications for most residents,” it said.
It is the second such incident in the Gaza Strip in less than a week. The network was completely interrupted at the end of last week, but was restored over the weekend. Connections to the outside world on Saturday were only possible with satellite cell phones or from tall buildings in the south with Israeli SIM cards.
“Massive bombing” is said to be to blame
The radical Islamic Palestinian organization Hamas had accused Israel of deliberately causing the raid in order to carry out “massacres” in the Gaza Strip. The Palestinian telecommunications provider Jawwal had blamed Israel’s “massive bombing” in the Gaza Strip for the power outage.
International organizations lost contact with their employees due to the communication failure and expressed concern about possible “atrocities” going undetected.
Hamas launched an unprecedented major attack on Israel on October 7th. According to Israeli information, at least 1,400 people in Israel were killed. According to the army, Hamas also abducted at least 240 people to the Gaza Strip.
In response to the Hamas attack, Israel has put the Gaza Strip under constant fire. Hundreds of thousands of people fled south in the densely populated coastal strip. According to Hamas statements that cannot be independently verified, the Israeli bombings killed thousands of Palestinians.