Watan-The besieged Gaza Strip, which has been enduring continuous Israeli aggression for over 20 months, has now entered complete digital isolation after Israeli forces cut off fixed-line internet and telecommunications services. This was due to the targeting of the final main route of the fiber-optic network.
On Thursday, Israeli forces severed fixed communication lines and internet services in central and southern Gaza, just two days after cutting them off in Gaza City and the northern part of the Strip—a scenario that has occurred repeatedly during previous wars. Each time, it only deepens the suffering of the civilian population already enduring the horrors of war.
The Palestinian Telecommunications Regulatory Authority announced on Thursday that all internet and landline services in Gaza have been interrupted after Israeli forces deliberately targeted telecom infrastructure.
The Authority stated that this escalation has intensified Gaza’s digital isolation due to a systematic attack on the telecommunications infrastructure, despite ongoing efforts to repair damaged and alternative routes over recent months and years.
It confirmed that southern and central Gaza have now joined Gaza City and the northern governorates in a state of “complete isolation” for the second consecutive day, due to continued attacks on critical telecom networks and main routes.
The Authority warned that this serious escalation threatens to cut Gaza off entirely from the outside world and denies residents access to essential services—many of which are life-saving in the current crisis—including humanitarian relief, healthcare, media coverage, and education.
The Authority urged all local and international stakeholders to intervene urgently and facilitate access for technical teams to safely reach damaged sites and carry out necessary repairs.
It also noted that Israeli forces continue to block technical teams from repairing the cables destroyed on Wednesday and are preventing access to alternative backup routes. For months, there have been attempts to restore many of these routes, but Israeli authorities have consistently refused, exacerbating the communication crisis and prolonging Gaza’s enforced isolation.
With Gaza under a tight Israeli blockade since the beginning of the war and travel in and out of the territory banned, the internet and phone lines had remained the last link between residents and the outside world.
Cutting off communications has severely impacted the work of journalists, depriving them of the ability to send news reports and images to international media.
At a time when civilians are under constant attack, the lack of communications puts lives at greater risk—preventing contact with emergency services and obstructing their ability to locate strike zones.
The Civil Defense Service said its crews are struggling to locate targeted areas due to the blackout and the inability of residents to reach them. Similarly, the Red Crescent stated that it is having “great difficulty” in contacting its teams in Gaza following the total shutdown of internet and landline services caused by direct targeting from Israeli forces.
Hamas: Communication Blackout Is an Aggressive New Step in the Genocidal War
Hamas warned of the growing danger facing Palestinians in Gaza as Israel targets what remains of civilian and humanitarian infrastructure. The movement described the telecom blackout as “a new aggressive step in the context of the genocidal war.”
In a statement following the Telecommunications Authority’s announcement, Hamas declared:
“The deliberate cutting of communications by the Zionist occupation army is a new hostile step in the genocidal war it is waging against our people in Gaza.”
It added: “The occupation aims to paralyze vital sectors, foremost among them the medical and humanitarian sectors, worsening the humanitarian disaster for defenseless civilians.”
The movement warned of the accelerating threat to civilians as Israel continues to target remaining infrastructure and essential civil and humanitarian services.
Hamas called on the international community to shoulder its responsibility to stop the aggression and ensure the protection of civilians and humanitarian facilities from what it called the brutality of the fascist Zionist occupation.
Backed by the United States, Israel has been carrying out what international rights groups and legal experts describe as a genocide in Gaza since October 7, 2023. This includes mass killings, starvation, destruction of homes, civil institutions, mosques, churches, and infrastructure, and the forced displacement of entire communities, all while defying international calls and orders from the International Court of Justice to cease hostilities.
So far, the war has resulted in over 182,000 Palestinians killed or injured, most of them women and children, in addition to more than 11,000 missing persons and hundreds of thousands displaced. Starvation has claimed the lives of many, including children.
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