Issued by the Palestinian Telecommunications Regulatory Authority:
All internet and fixed-line communications services in the Gaza Strip have been cut off after the last main fiber route in Gaza was targeted.
The Telecommunications Regulatory Authority announces an escalation in digital isolation in the Gaza Strip as a result of the systematic targeting of communications infrastructure, despite numerous previous attempts to repair many of the long-severed and alternative routes.
The Authority also confirms that the southern and central governorates of the Gaza Strip have joined the isolation suffered by Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip for the second consecutive day, as a result of the continued targeting of communications networks and vital main routes.
The Authority notes that this dangerous escalation against communications infrastructure threatens to completely isolate the Gaza Strip from the outside world and prevents citizens from accessing essential services, which are vital under the current circumstances, including relief, health, media, and educational services.
While the Authority warns of the humanitarian and social consequences of this outage, it calls on all relevant local and international parties to urgently intervene to facilitate the implementation of the necessary arrangements, enabling technical crews to safely access the fault sites and carry out the required repairs.
The Authority points out that the Israeli occupation is still preventing technical crews from repairing the cables that were cut yesterday, and is also obstructing access to alternative backup routes. It is worth noting that attempts have been made for months and weeks to repair and fix many of the alternative routes, but the response has always been a refusal from the occupation. In light of the continued outage, the outage exacerbates the communications crisis and prolongs the isolation imposed on the Strip.