Internet services in Gaza cut off, says Palestinian telecom provider

RAMALLAH - Communications and internet services in the Gaza Strip were completely cut off on Friday evening amid heavy Israeli bombing of feeder lines, towers and networks, a service provider said.

Anadolu Agency reported the Palestine Telecommunications Company said in a statement that "landline, wireless and internet communications services were completely cut off amid intense Israeli bombing on the lines with the West Bank, and on the towers and networks."

Ooredoo Palestine, a mobile network operator in the West Bank, also said in a separate statement that its cell phone services were completely cut off from the Gaza Strip as of Friday evening.

According to sources in the Palestinian Communications and Information Technology Ministry, there was a sudden halt in services from the Gaza Strip, with reason unknown yet.

Meanwhile, the Palestine Red Crescent Society said on Friday that it had "completely” lost contact with the operations room in the Gaza Strip and with all its crew members working there.

It expressed deep concern regarding "providing ambulances with services in the Gaza Strip, especially that this outage affects the central communications services and impedes the arrival of ambulances to the injured."

The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) on Friday expressed deep concern over the situation, warning that this was leading to a critical information void with potentially serious consequences.

The New York-based group emphasised that the world is "losing a window into the reality" of what is happening in Gaza as news organisations lose contact with their correspondents on the ground.

"The Israel-Gaza war has entered a new stage with intensified bombing and ground operations by Israeli forces. The Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ) is highly alarmed by widespread reports of a communications blackout in Gaza," Anadolu Agency reported it said.

The blackout not only deprives the world of vital news but also creates a dangerous "vacuum" in which independent, factual information is displaced by "deadly propaganda," as well as misinformation and disinformation, it said.

Deliberately targeting journalists or media infrastructure constitute possible war crimes, it added.

At least 7,326 Palestinians in Gaza and West Bank were killed in Israeli attacks since Oct 7.

Gaza's 2.3 million residents are grappling with shortages of food, water, and medicine due to Israel's massive air bombardment and total blockade of the enclave. - BERNAMA-ANADOLU AGENCY