As the Israeli military expanded its ground operations by launching a powerful large-scale airstrike on the Gaza Strip in Palestine on the 27th (local time), the entire Gaza Strip was enveloped in darkness, with not only electricity supply but also means of communication such as communication cut off.
To summarize the current situation in the Gaza Strip, Israel cut off internet and communications in the blockaded area through intensified bombing on the night of the 27th (local time), leaving 2.3 million people virtually cut off from contact and information with each other and the outside world. Foreign media such as the Associated Press and the Guardian reported that this was the case.
The Israeli military is expanding its ground operations in the region, with the announcement signaling that it is approaching a full-scale invasion of Gaza. Due to the Israeli military’s continued airstrikes, the sky above Gaza City was brightly lit by explosions for several hours on the night of the 27th.
CNN reported that the Gaza Strip is experiencing the worst connectivity disruption since fighting first broke out on the 7th, with the internet being blocked almost entirely.
According to a network analysis by Netblocks, a London-based internet monitoring company, internet connectivity in the Gaza Strip dropped to its lowest level on the 27th due to Israel’s heavy ground offensive.
Paltel, a Palestinian telecommunications company, said that internet, mobile phone and landline services were “completely disrupted” due to the bombing. Some satellite phones continued to work.
Paltel, the region’s last remaining major internet operator, said it had suffered damage to its international routes. According to data, many Palestinians are experiencing a complete loss of internet access and a complete loss of the ability to communicate electronically.
Jawal, another Palestinian telecommunications company that provides mobile communications services to the Gaza Strip, also issued a statement on the 27th, saying, “The intensive bombing over the past hour has destroyed all remaining international routes connecting the Gaza Strip with the outside world.” “It resulted in a complete disruption of service,” he said.
According to CNN, internet access is expected to worsen further as the Israel Defense Forces announces ‘expanded ground operations’. People with Israeli or international SIM cards can still access the Internet, CNN added.
Foreign media reported on the local situation that Palestinians, who had already been plunged into darkness after most of the electricity supply was cut off a few weeks ago, were left huddled together in homes and shelters and isolated, with food and water supplies running out.
Relatives outside the Gaza Strip were embarrassed when messages and conversations with family members suddenly stopped and phone calls were disconnected.
“I was so scared that something like this would happen,” said an official from a feminist group based in the city of Ramallah in the West Bank, expressing anxiety that she had not heard from her family in central Gaza for several hours.
Meanwhile, the Guardian reported that one-fifth of a bakery supported by a UN agency for Palestinian refugees in the Gaza Strip was bombed amid warnings of catastrophic food shortages due to fuel shortages.
The United Nations Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) said 10 of the 50 bakeries that supplied flour to help lower soaring bread prices were damaged in the airstrikes and that vehicles carrying flour to the remaining bakeries had run out of fuel.
The Guardian reported that so many Palestinians needed bread so desperately that there were long lines at bakeries in the Gaza Strip, and it had become a staple food for many people in shelters, which number more than 600,000, three times the current capacity.
Source: Donga
Mark Jones is a world traveler and journalist for News Rebeat. With a curious mind and a love of adventure, Mark brings a unique perspective to the latest global events and provides in-depth and thought-provoking coverage of the world at large.