Gaza Strip: The Palestinian Telecommunications Regulatory Authority has announced a disruption to fixed-line internet and landline services in Gaza City and the North Gaza Governorate, citing damage to key infrastructure caused by the ongoing Israeli offensive.
In a statement on Facebook on Wednesday, September 17, the authority said several major routes supplying the region had been targeted, leading to the outage. It added that engineering crews were working “around the clock” to repair the network despite dangerous conditions on the ground.
Independent internet observatory NetBlocks also confirmed the disruption in a post on X, reporting “a significant disruption to connectivity in the Gaza Strip with high impact to the north.” It attributed the incident to the targeting of one of the main fibre optic routes, noting that the blackout comes amid Israel’s latest ground operation in the area.
Only those with an eSIM can manage access, and even then, it is extremely limited.
Earlier, the Euro-Mediterranean Human Rights Monitor earlier warned of an imminent collapse of telecommunications in the Gaza Strip due to repeated Israeli strikes on residential towers and high-rise buildings.
It stressed that communications blackouts hinder rescue efforts, delay ambulance operations, and prevent victims trapped under rubble from seeking help. The watchdog described the blackout as “an indirect means of killing as dangerous as direct bombardment.”
Telecommunications and internet networks in Gaza have faced prolonged disruptions since Israel launched its assault on the territory in October 2023. Outages lasting hours or days have repeatedly cut the Strip off from the outside world, severely affecting hospitals, civil defence, aid distribution, and daily life.
The latest disruption comes as Israeli armoured vehicles were sighted in north-western Gaza City, a day after the military declared the start of a large-scale ground operation under “Operation Gideon 2.” In recent weeks, the Israeli army has intensified calls for civilians to leave Gaza City and move south to what it describes as a “humanitarian zone.”
Hamas condemned Israel’s expanded operations, calling them “a new chapter in the systematic war of genocide and ethnic cleansing against the people of Gaza.”
The conflict has displaced most of Gaza’s more than two million residents. The Gaza Health Ministry reports at least 64,964 deaths since the war began, the majority of them civilians.
