Palestinian telecommunications companies Jawwal and Paltel say their network has become out of service in the Gaza Strip because fuel deliveries are not allowed into the besieged territory.
The companies wrote in statements to X on Thursday: “All energy sources that power the grid have been exhausted. ” They had warned the day before that Gaza was facing a “total blackout” due to lack of fuel to operate major data centers and switches.
The companies said core elements of the grid have been dependent on batteries since Wednesday afternoon.
All landline, cellular and internet services in Gaza have now been disrupted, leaving its 2.3 million residents largely cut off from the outside world and each other.
We regret to announce that all telecommunications services in 𝐆𝐚𝐳𝐚 𝐒𝐭𝐫𝐢𝐩 are out of service as all energy sources that power the network have been exhausted, and 𝐟𝐮𝐞𝐥 𝐰𝐚 𝐬 𝐧𝐨𝐭 𝐚𝐥𝐥𝐨𝐰𝐞𝐝 𝐢𝐧.#KeepGazaConnected
– Jawwal (@JawwalPal) November 16, 2023
“Ambulances are now outside Nasser Hospital with medical staff waiting for news of any shelling, so they can quickly rush to the areas,” Tel Aviv Tribune’s Youmna ElSayed reported from Khan Younis in the south from Gaza.
“This is not the first time this has happened, and it has caused a big crisis for people trying to reach ambulances or civil defense teams when bombings occur,” she said, adding that the humanitarian situation in the south was also deteriorating.
“There has been no food, water, fuel or electricity for over a month,” she said.
The power outage comes as Israeli forces “relentlessly target different areas”, including the northern, central and southern Gaza Strip, said Tel Aviv Tribune’s Tareq Abu Azzoum, also in Khan Younis.
“People now depend on radios to get news from local channels,” Abu Azzoum said, adding that Israeli forces’ “deliberate attacks” on telecommunications towers are isolating Palestinians.
Fuel as a “weapon of war”
Israel cut off fuel deliveries to the Gaza Strip as part of a “complete siege” of the territory after Hamas fighters from Gaza launched an attack on southern Israel on October 7, killing around 1,200 people, according to Israeli authorities.
Since the attack, Israel has bombed Palestinian territory, launched a ground offensive and severely restricted supplies of water, food and electricity. More than 11,600 people were killed in the Israeli attack, according to Palestinian authorities, including more than 4,700 children.
This was an unfortunately predictable consequence of the Israeli government’s refusal to transport any fuel to Gaza to power the generators needed to operate telecommunications services. Israel also refuses to restore electricity.
-Kenneth Roth (@KenRoth) November 16, 2023
The first tanker truck to enter Gaza since Israel imposed the siege arrived on Wednesday.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said it had received 23,000 liters (6,075 gallons) of fuel. However, Israeli authorities have limited its use exclusively to transporting aid delivered from Egypt.
“It is appalling that fuel continues to be used as a weapon of war,” said UNRWA chief Philippe Lazzarini.
Since Israel launched a ground invasion in late October, Gaza has experienced two power outages after Israel cut off communications and internet services.
Aid agencies and first responders warned that the power outages were seriously disrupting their work and putting lives at risk.
“People will be deprived of access to vital information, like finding safe areas or contacting emergency services,” said Rasha Abdul-Rahim, director of Amnesty Tech.
“The essential work of humanitarian agencies will also be seriously disrupted as workers lose contact with each other,” she added.
“Prolonged and complete communications blackouts, like those experienced in Gaza, can cover up atrocities and breed impunity while further undermining humanitarian efforts and putting lives at risk,” said Deborah Brown, senior technology researcher at Human Rights Watch.
Communications networks in Gaza have been unreliable since the start of the war due to lack of electricity and damage to infrastructure caused by Israeli bombing.
The Palestinian Ministry of Communications and Information Technology has already called on neighboring Egypt to operate communications stations near the Gaza border and activate roaming services on Egyptian networks.
Ismail Thawabta, director general of the government’s media office in Gaza, warned that the blackout could allow Israel to hide any evidence of its “war crimes.”
Indeed, Israeli military actions against hospitals and other sites in the enclave will be “hidden from the eyes of international organizations” and countries around the world, Thawabta said at a press conference.
“This will worsen the humanitarian crisis. No one will be able to have contact with medical teams, with civil defense, with municipalities and all institutions in Gaza,” Thawabta said.