Gaza faces longest communication outage amid ongoing Israeli aggression

Gaza (Quds News Network) – As the Israeli aggression on Gaza persists, telecommunication and internet services in the region have experienced a complete outage for eight consecutive days, marking the longest disruption since the onset of the aggression on October 7th of the previous year.

According to NetBlocks, a global communication network monitoring website, the ongoing disruption, now entering its eighth day, represents the lengthiest continuous outage of communications ever recorded since the initiation of the Israeli aggression on Gaza last October.

Last Friday, Palestinian telecommunication companies, PalTel and Ooredoo Palestine, declared a complete cessation of communication and internet services to Gaza due to the prolonged Israeli aggression.

Expressing regret, PalTel stated, “We apologize for announcing a complete interruption of all mobile, landline, and internet services to Gaza due to the ongoing aggression.”

Ooredoo issued a similar announcement, stating, “With the continued aggression on our beloved Gaza, the main feed lines for telecommunication and internet companies have been damaged, resulting in a complete halt of our services in the south and central Gaza Strip.”

Ihab Sbeih, Undersecretary of the Ministry of Communications and Information Technology, clarified that communications have once again been entirely severed from Gaza, both in the central and southern regions. However, Ooredoo continues to operate in the north.

In a statement, he pointed out that the Palestinian Telecommunications Company (PalTel), the provider of landline services in these areas, has been unable to access the area due to the lack of secure routes and the difficulty of movement due to the massive destruction of roads, in addition to a shortage of spare parts.

He emphasized that the communication sector has been continuously targeted during the Israeli aggression on Gaza, with the extent of damage exceeding 80%. The technical crews have also been directly targeted despite prior coordination through international institutions.

Last Saturday, PalTel announced the martyrdom of two of its crew members, Nader Abu Hajaj and Baha’a Al-Rayyes, while repairing the communication network in Khan Yunis, southern Gaza. The Israeli occupation targeted the company’s vehicle with a direct shell.

The destruction caused by the aggression on infrastructure, the scarcity of fuel due to the blockade, and the damage to lines, networks, and transmission towers have resulted in recurring outages and pressure on the network, leading to weakened signals in various parts of the Gaza Strip.