2024-01-12 22:40:55
The telephone and internet network was once again out of service on Friday in the Gaza Strip, bombed for more than three months by the Israeli army in its war against the Islamist Hamas movement that governs that Palestinian territory.
“We regret to report that all telecommunications services in the Gaza Strip are cut off due to the ongoing aggression. “Gaza is disconnected again,” said telecommunications operator Paltel on the X social network.
In a statement, the Palestinian company blamed the outage on the “Israeli side,” which disconnected “the servers.” It is not the first time that the Palestinian territory has been cut off since the start of the war.
The conflict broke out on October 7, with the incursion of Palestinian militiamen who killed some 1,140 people, according to a balance established by AFP based on Israeli data.
The militants also kidnapped about 250 people, about a hundred of whom were exchanged for Palestinian prisoners during a week-long humanitarian truce in late November.
Israel vowed to “annihilate” Hamas, considered a terrorist organization by Israel, the European Union and the United States, and launched an air and ground operation against Gaza.
You can also read: Israeli Army affirms that it “dismantled” the Hamas military structure in northern Gaza
According to the territory’s Ministry of Health, 23,708 people, mostly women and children, have died so far in the bombings.
80% of the nearly 2.4 million inhabitants of the Strip have been displaced by the war and live in overcrowded camps, according to the UN.
Hostages will receive medicine
An AFP journalist heard artillery fire on Friday night near the cities of Rafah and Khan Yunis, in the extreme south of the territory.
AFPTV reporters also observed a plume of smoke rising over Rafah.
“More than 59 dead and dozens of wounded were taken to hospitals after the attacks” last night, the Gaza Ministry of Health reported.
The Israeli army indicated for its part that it had eliminated “dozens of terrorists” in Jan Junis and Maghazi, respectively in the south and center of the enclave.
“More than 700 rocket launch sites” toward Israel were also destroyed, he added.
The Israeli government is under international pressure to reduce the suffering of Gaza civilians and under domestic pressure to speed up the release of the hostages.
The office of Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu reported that the hostages will receive medication “in the coming days,” thanks to an agreement negotiated through Qatar.
Obstacles to humanitarian aid
Israel has maintained a “complete siege” of the Strip since October 9, preventing the entry of fuel, water, food and medicine.
Humanitarian aid has barely entered the meager territory of 362 km2.
The representative of the UN children’s agency (Unicef) in the Palestinian Territories, Lucia Elmi, requested that a greater number of humanitarian convoys be authorized to enter the Strip.
“The (Israeli) inspection process remains slow and unpredictable. And some materials we desperately need remain subject to restrictions, without clear justification,” Elmi said in Jerusalem.
The UN also lamented growing difficulties in aid operations in the northern Strip and accused the Israeli army of limiting the supply of fuel, used mainly in hospitals.
“We are facing systematic rejection from the Israeli side,” denounced in Geneva Andrea De Domenico, representative of the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (Ocha) for the Palestinian Territories.
The war also generates tensions in the region, such as on the border between Lebanon and Israel, where the Israeli army and the Lebanese Hezbollah movement multiply artillery fire.
Yemen’s Houthi rebels have also increased attacks on ships they consider linked to Israel in the Red Sea, in support of Hamas.
In response to these attacks, which disrupt global maritime trade, the United States and the United Kingdom bombed the rebel group, backed by Iran, on Friday.
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