Gaza (UNA/WAFA) – The Palestinian Telecommunications Regulatory Commission announced on Thursday that all internet and landline services in the Gaza Strip have been cut off after the last main fiber route was targeted.
In a statement, the Authority noted the escalation of digital isolation in the Gaza Strip as a result of the systematic targeting of communications infrastructure, despite numerous previous attempts over a long period to repair the many severed and alternative routes.
She confirmed that the central and southern governorates of the Gaza Strip have joined the isolation suffered by Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip for the second consecutive day, as a result of the continued targeting of communications networks and vital main roads.
The Authority noted that this escalation against the communications infrastructure threatens to completely isolate the Gaza Strip from the outside world and prevents citizens from accessing essential services, which are vital under the current circumstances, including relief, health, media, and educational services.
It warned of the humanitarian and social repercussions of the outage, calling on all relevant local and international authorities to urgently intervene to facilitate the implementation of the necessary arrangements, enabling technical crews to safely access fault sites and carry out the required repairs. The continued outage exacerbates the communications crisis and prolongs the isolation imposed on the sector.
She explained that the occupation is preventing technical crews from repairing the cables cut yesterday and is obstructing access to alternative backup routes. She noted that attempts have been made for months to repair several alternative routes, but they were rejected and crews were prevented from working.
In the same context, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society stated that it is facing significant difficulty communicating with its staff in the Gaza Strip due to the complete disruption of internet and landline services in the Strip, following the direct targeting of communications lines by Israeli occupation forces.
In a brief statement today, she added that the Emergency Operations Room is also facing difficulty coordinating with other organizations to respond to humanitarian emergencies.
Since the beginning of the Israeli occupation's aggression on the Gaza Strip on October 2023, XNUMX, telecommunications and internet services have been cut off several times in the Strip or across large areas of it, due to intense Israeli bombardment or the depletion of fuel used to operate electric generators.
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