Gaza, Nov 17, (dpa/GNA) – The breakdown in the communication networks in the Gaza Strip, continued on Friday, with Palestinian media in the West Bank, reporting considerable problems reaching residents of the coastal strip in the morning.
Calls were not going through, and messages were not being delivered, they said.
The Palestinian telecommunications company Paltel, based in the West Bank, reported the collapse of its networks on Thursday evening.
The organization Netblocks, which is known for monitoring internet blockages, also confirmed the interruption of internet connections on the platform X. The reason is said to be a lack of fuel for the power generation of the communications infrastructure. There was initially no new status on Friday.
The United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), stated on Friday morning with regard to the outage: “Humanitarian organizations and emergency services have warned that blackouts, are endangering the safety of civilians and the delivery of life-saving assistance.”
Paltel and the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees in the Near East (UNRWA), had already warned of a total telecommunications blackout in recent days.
Since the beginning of the Gaza war on October 7, the communication networks in the sealed-off coastal area, have failed several times. Connections to the outside world are only possible with satellite mobile phones, and sometimes from high buildings in the south of the Gaza Strip, with Israeli SIM cards.
GNA