[Gaza, October 28, 2023] - The residents of the Gaza Strip are currently experiencing a complete disruption of communication and internet services. The International Union of Muslim Scholars, along with numerous human rights organizations and political analysts, affirm that this disruption is the result of actions taken by the Israeli occupation forces with the aim of concealing war crimes committed in the region and imposing economic and political restrictions to prevent the population from seeking humanitarian assistance during the escalating military operations within the framework of "Operation Al-Aqsa Tempest."
Communication and internet services in the Gaza Strip were severed entirely prior to the ground expansion operation. On the evening of Friday, October 26, 2023, Israeli occupation forces conducted intense and brutal shelling targeting communication infrastructure and residential areas. They did so with the malicious intent of associating hospitals with Hamas offices in their vicinity, a move considered by the international community as a deceptive tactic to provide unjustified legitimacy for hospital bombings.
The intensity of the shelling witnessed the destruction of all remaining Gaza Strip facilities that connect Gaza with other neighborhoods and cities, further complicating the situation. Additionally, the Palestinian mobile network operator, Orascom Palestine, announced a complete halt of mobile phone services to the Gaza Strip starting from Friday evening.
In this context, several television channels reported resorting to using satellite communication for broadcasting images and communicating with their correspondents, according to the Palestinian news agency Wafa.
Furthermore, the Palestinian Red Crescent Society expressed deep concern over the situation, reporting a complete loss of communication with the operations room in the Gaza Strip and their staff working there, greatly affecting ambulance services and hindering the arrival of ambulances to assist the injured.
Estimates suggest that these disruptions are part of the Israeli occupation forces' attempts to conceal alleged war crimes in the Gaza Strip and to impose economic restrictions that tighten the noose on citizens, preventing them from seeking humanitarian assistance during the escalating military airstrikes.