Internet services have been disrupted once again in Gaza, Palestine, in the past week, with operators stating the outage was caused by a deliberate cut to one of its main routes.

Gaza
– Getty Images

From 10-15 June, Internet in the central and southern governorates of Palestine's Gaza Strip fell abruptly, as the region continues to come under heavy fire from Israeli forces in retaliation for the Hamas terror attack in October 2023.

Operator Paltel attributed the outage to a cut in one of the main routes, as also noted by Internet monitoring firm NetBlocks on X.

Palestine's Telecommunications Regulatory Authority confirmed that its technical teams were able to restore services gradually throughout the five days.

The regulator blamed Israeli forces for deliberately attacking the telecoms infrastructure, and called for better protection for technicians carrying out repairs amid Palestine's war with Israel.

Gaza has suffered several Internet outages since the war broke out in 2023, the last notable one in September. One such outage in January of last year, lasted for around a week.

Hamas killed more than 1,200 people in Israel in surprise attacks on October 7, with more than 200 Israeli citizens kidnapped by the terrorist group.

Israel's government responded with military action, nearly 70,000 people have been killed in Gaza since October 7, according to its Ministry of Health, with more than 129,000 wounded.

Since the start of the war, Israel has blocked all but one delivery of fuel to Gaza, meaning resources have been scarce.

A UN Human Rights Council-mandated Independent International Commission of Inquiry (COI) report found this week that more than 90 percent of schools and university buildings across Gaza have been destroyed by Israeli airstrikes, shelling, burning, and controlled demolitions.

“We are seeing more and more indications that Israel is carrying out a concerted campaign to obliterate Palestinian life in Gaza,” said Navi Pillay, Chair of the Commission.

The humanitarian agency UNICEF is currently conducting a charity drive to provide critical medical aid to children in the region.

Internet services in Iran have also degraded substantially amid a growing conflict with Israel.

The exact cause - whether from missile and drone strikes, mounting cyberattacks, or internal defensive cuts - is currently unknown.

Services in the country fell by around 75 percent from around 13:50 UTC yesterday (June 17). Telecoms providers Irancell, MCCI, Pars Online, and Rightel were all impacted.