Gaza faces longest communications blackout amid war

Gaza has entered the seventh day of a near-total telecommunications blackout — the longest since the beginning of the war between Israel and Hamas.

According to the internet monitoring service NetBlocks, the outage reached the 144-hour mark on Thursday. This is the ninth such outage in Gaza since the October 7th attacks by Hamas on Israel.

⚠ 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

Human and digital rights groups sounded the alarm about blackouts in Gaza, accusing Israel of severing communications in the largest Palestinian city, either directly through controlling the infrastructure, or indirectly through creating disruptions to power connections and repair crews.

“Communications blackouts put civilians in Gaza at risk, hamper rescue services and provision of humanitarian aid, and deprive people of access to lifesaving information,” said Amnesty International in a statement on Wednesday.

“These recurrent and life-threatening blackouts must not be normalized. An immediate ceasefire is critical to urgently restore power and connectivity to Gazans,” the group said.

According to digital rights organization Access Now, the latest shutdown left millions of people “in the dark.” Israeli authorities are also reportedly blocking telecommunications repair equipment and phones for humanitarian service workers from entering Gaza. Earlier in January, Israeli airstrikes killed two employees of the Palestinian mobile operator Jawwal, as they were en route to repair damaged infrastructure.

“If no one can make repairs, shutdowns will last longer and make saving lives even more difficult,” Access Now said.

Although Israel largely remains silent about blackouts in Gaza, researchers say that there is evidence indicating that the outages result from a combination of direct attacks on civilian telecommunications infrastructure — including cell towers, fiber optic cables, and internet provider offices — as well as restrictions on access to power. This includes blockading the fuel required to run generators.

According to Access Now, Israel also deliberately caused technical disruptions to telecom services in Gaza. In October, the Israeli Ministry of Communications issued a press release acknowledging plans for the “shutting down of cellular communications and internet services to Gaza” ahead of its military operation against Hamas.

The impact of the shutdowns is being felt most intensely by civilians.

“People seeking shelter from bombings and violence can’t communicate with their loved ones, or the humanitarian service workers trying to help them,” Access Now said. “And when Israeli authorities use the internet to issue warnings or tell people where to seek shelter, millions who are impacted can’t even get online to get that information.”