Complete internet and communications blackout in Gaza

The Palestinian Telecommunications Regulatory Commission reported on Thursday that all internet and fixed-line communications services in the Gaza Strip were cut off after the Israeli occupation targeted infrastructure.

The Authority said in a statement that digital isolation in Gaza has escalated as a result of systematic targeting of communications infrastructure, despite numerous previous attempts to repair many of the long-severe and alternative routes.

She added that the southern and central 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 considered this dangerous escalation against the communications infrastructure to threaten to completely isolate the Gaza Strip from the outside world and prevent citizens from accessing essential services, which are vital under the current circumstances, including relief, health, media, and educational services.

The Palestinian Ministry of Telecommunications previously announced that telecommunications companies had resumed operations in the northern and southern Gaza Strip following the ceasefire agreement in Gaza that went into effect in late January.

Over the past months of the Israeli war of extermination in Gaza, the ministry reported in successive statements that telecommunications services in the Strip had been cut off due to fuel shortages and Israeli attacks. Services gradually resumed only to be cut off again for the same reason.

This coincides with Israel's continued devastating war on Gaza since October 7, 2023, leaving more than 180,000 Palestinians dead or wounded, most of them children and women, and more than 11,000 missing.