75% of Gaza’s telecommunications towers are “out of service” due to Israel’s offensive

Follow the latest news on the war in Gaza live

Palestinian authorities denounce “deliberate and systematic attacks” to “isolate Gaza” and “hide the truth and genocide”

May 16. (EUROPA PRESS) –

Around three quarters of the telecommunications towers in the Gaza Strip are “out of service” due to Israel’s military offensive, as reported this Thursday by the Palestinian authorities, who have accused the Israeli Army of “deliberate attacks.” and systematic” against communications in the enclave.

The Palestinian Central Bureau of Statistics and the Ministry of Telecommunications under the Palestinian Authority have indicated in a statement that “75 percent” of the 841 mobile phone towers in the enclave “are out of service.”

“Losses in information infrastructure and communications technology and the postal sector increase to about 223 million dollars (about 206 million euros) during the first six months of the Israeli aggression,” they stated, before specifying that before the start of the conflict, 93 percent of homes had access to the Internet.

“The infrastructure that feeds telecommunications companies in the Strip has been deliberately and directly attacked,” they denounced, while emphasizing that the bombings have hit towers, fiber optic networks, transmission lines and main centers and secondary communications.

For this reason, they have stated that Israel seeks to “isolate the Gaza Strip from the rest of the world, in an attempt to hide the truth and the genocide that is being conveyed to the world through various media outlets,” before adding that the “Deliberate cutting” of communications results in “increased suffering, as it makes it difficult for rescue teams to provide help and isolates residents.”

“It limits their ability to communicate and seek help, while making the work of journalists difficult,” they lamented. “These actions violate international laws and fundamental rights stipulated in international conventions, while serving as a means to conceal war crimes,” they concluded.

Israel launched its offensive after the attacks carried out on October 7 by the Islamic Resistance Movement (Hamas), which left some 1,200 dead and nearly 240 kidnapped. Since then, the Gazan authorities, controlled by the Islamist group, have reported some 35,300 deaths, to which are added nearly 490 in the West Bank and East Jerusalem at the hands of Israeli forces and in attacks carried out by settlers.