Jan 19, 2024 14:00:00

Internet and mobile phone networks in Israel and the Gaza Strip have been completely shut down since January 12, 2024.

In the Palestinian

Gaza Strip , where military conflicts between the Islamic fundamentalist organization Hamas and Israel continue, all communication services have been cut off since January 12, 2024. According to the New York Times, the disruption of communications services was the result of an attack on the infrastructure of Khan Yunis, a city in the southern Gaza Strip.

A week in the dark: connectivity in Gaza must be restored now - Access Now
https://www.accessnow.org/press-release/gaza-a-week-in-the-dark/

Web monitors say Gaza week-long internet outage is yet longest | TechCrunch

https://techcrunch.com/2024/01/18/web-monitors-say-gaza-week-long-internet-outage-is-longest-yet/

Gaza's Phone and Internet Service Is Down for a Seventh Day - The New York Times
https://www.nytimes.com/2024/01/17/world/middleeast/gaza-telecom-blackout.html

On January 12, 2024 local time, Paltel, a Palestinian internet service provider, announced that ``all communication services, including internet and mobile phones, in the Gaza Strip have been lost due to fighting.''

We regret to announce that all telecom services in Gaza Strip have been lost due to the ongoing aggression. Gaza is blacked out again.

— Paltel (@Paltelco) January 12, 2024

The New York Times reports that the communication service cut-off was a result of fighting damage to the communications infrastructure in Khan Yunis, a city in the southern Gaza Strip.

The interruption of communications services has been going on for a long time, and on January 18, 2024, seven days after the outbreak, Internet monitoring company NetBlocks reported, ``This interruption of communications services in the Gaza Strip is expected to continue.'' Additionally, NetBlocks said this is the longest communications service outage since the start of hostilities between Hamas and Israel in October 2023.

⚠ Update: Network data show the #Gaza Strip has now entered the seventh day of a near-total telecoms blackout, with the incident passing the 144 hour mark; the disruption is the ninth and longest sustained telecoms outage since the onset of the present conflict with Israel ???? pic.twitter.com/VrGMYgxsVB

— NetBlocks (@netblocks) January 18, 2024

Various problems have arisen in the Gaza Strip as communication services have been cut off. Nebal Farsakh, a spokesperson for the humanitarian organization Palestine Red Crescent, said: ``With communication services cut off, people in the Gaza Strip cannot even make emergency calls to call for ambulances.'' He revealed that the internet shutdown was having an impact on support efforts for the injured.

Digital rights organization Access Now reports, ``The communication blackout makes it difficult to document and share information about what's happening on the ground.'' Hisham Manna, spokesman for the International Committee of the Red Cross, said: ``Attempting to plan a mission during a communications blackout makes it difficult to report to headquarters when unexpected events occur, creating a very dangerous situation.'' 'I will fall into this.'

Access Now's Marwa Fataftah said: 'Internet shutdowns are a matter of life and death for people living in the Gaza Strip. The international community must act now to end the war and internet shutdowns in Gaza. 'No,' he recommends.