
Internet and phone outage in much of Gaza disrupts humanitarian operations and deepens isolation
Israeli strikes damaged a main connection, cutting off communications in large areas of the strip since Tuesday, according to the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, based in the Israeli-occupied West Bank. The telecom company Paltel said Friday that internet and landline services were restored in some areas in southern Gaza, including Khan Younis, with repairs ongoing in other southern and central areas.
Paltel warned in a statement to AP that ongoing attacks on the main network could make future maintenance impossible, especially due to a shortage of essential materials and resources.
The Gaza Strip has experienced at least 10 communications partial and full outages since the war began in October 2023, according to Palestinian telecom company Paltel. This week's outage has impacted aid efforts, emergency services, suspended academic classes, and cut off displaced Palestinians from the rest of the territory.
Palestinians in Gaza rely heavily on cell service, as unsafe roads and fuel shortages limit movement across the enclave. Humanitarians say those in affected areas will struggle to access information on aid and medical services or call for ambulances.
'Telecoms have been used as a weapon of war against civilians,' said Juliette Touma, communications director at UNRWA, the U.N. agency for Palestinian refugee that is the main service provider in Gaza.
The IDF didn't immediately respond to request for comment.
The vast majority of UNRWA workers don't have connectivity in the areas affected by the outages. As a result, they and other aid workers have struggled to deliver aid and coordinate with one another, Touma told the AP.
'Sometimes we get a signal when a team member has the courage to go on the rooftop of a building, which is extremely dangerous under strikes, and they send us a message that they're alive. I can't tell you how much of a relief it is, but they're more sporadic and less regular,' said Touma. Some people rely on E-sims, but they are not compatible with all devices and can only work in certain areas.
Unreliable mobile service
Over 70% of telecommunications networks in Gaza has been partially or completely destroyed as of August 2024 since the war began, according to statistics released by the Palestinian Ministry of Telecommunication and Digital Economy, cited by the Palestine Economic Policy Research Institute. However, Paltel said technical teams offered some technical solutions that would restore services.
When they hear nearby strikes, Palestinians without connection don't know whether evacuation orders are issued and where should they relocate to, said Shaina Low, the Norwegian Refugee Council's communications adviser.
'This also means that people are isolated. They can't communicate with their family and friends inside of Gaza and understand what the current situation is or get external support from networks outside,' she said.
Limited or unreliable mobile service has made it difficult for ambulances and civil defense teams to reach people in need of life-saving assistance, Low added.
Fikr Shalltoot, Gaza director for the group Medical Aid for Palestinians, said its doctors working in hospitals and clinics in effected areas can't document or share their work with managers.
'Targeted daily'
Meanwhile, with Gaza's university campuses heavily damaged, the internet has become the only way to continue education. But outages have forced educators to cancel classes and exams.
Wednesdays
Columnist Jen Zoratti looks at what's next in arts, life and pop culture.
'It is, unfortunately, like a never-ending vicious cycle of suffering because when this issue is resolved in the north, the problem appears in the south,' said Mohammed Shbair, vice president for administrative and financial affairs, at al-Azhar University in Gaza.
'Students cannot reach universities because they are destroyed, and they can't even reach areas where the internet is available in cafes or displacement tents, as they are now being targeted daily and systematically by Israeli strikes,' said Shbair, an associate professor of public law.
Online banking, a key alternative amid cash shortages, has also become unavailable. Palestinians who rely on online transfers to pay suppliers can no longer do so under the current conditions, according to Low.
The outage complicates humanitarian operations and adds to the 'toxic stress' families face daily, said UNICEF spokesperson Tess Ingram.
'In a context of incessant bombardments, mass casualty events linked to food distributions, rising malnutrition and dwindling access to clean water, connectivity is a real lifeline for families in Gaza,' she said.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles


Toronto Sun
an hour ago
- Toronto Sun
Israel eases Gaza aid curbs, hoping to defuse hunger outcry
Published Jul 27, 2025 • 4 minute read Humanitarian aid is airdropped to Palestinians over northern Gaza Strip, Sunday, July 27, 2025. Photo by Abdel Kareem Hana / AP Photo Israel rolled back curbs on aid distribution to Gaza over the weekend in an effort to defuse a growing international outcry over hunger convulsing the shattered Palestinian enclave. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. THIS CONTENT IS RESERVED FOR SUBSCRIBERS ONLY Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. SUBSCRIBE TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Subscribe now to read the latest news in your city and across Canada. Unlimited online access to articles from across Canada with one account. Get exclusive access to the Toronto Sun ePaper, an electronic replica of the print edition that you can share, download and comment on. Enjoy insights and behind-the-scenes analysis from our award-winning journalists. Support local journalists and the next generation of journalists. Daily puzzles including the New York Times Crossword. REGISTER / SIGN IN TO UNLOCK MORE ARTICLES Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account. Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments. Enjoy additional articles per month. Get email updates from your favourite authors. THIS ARTICLE IS FREE TO READ REGISTER TO UNLOCK. Create an account or sign in to continue with your reading experience. Access articles from across Canada with one account Share your thoughts and join the conversation in the comments Enjoy additional articles per month Get email updates from your favourite authors Don't have an account? Create Account The Israel Defense Forces on Sunday suspended some military operations against Hamas to facilitate the movement of UN relief convoys, and restored electricity supplies to a desalination plant in Gaza for the first time since March. The UN World Food Program has warned for weeks that the entire population of 2.1 million people in the Gaza Strip faces crisis levels of food insecurity. Scores of aid groups say starvation is fast spreading. That's seen world anger toward Israel's government on the rise amid increasing reports and images of emaciated babies, children crammed into soup queues, and men tussling over bags of flour. German Chancellor Friedrich Merz spoke by phone on Sunday with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, expressing 'deep concern about the catastrophic humanitarian situation in Gaza' and urging 'further substantial steps,' according to a readout from his office. Your noon-hour look at what's happening in Toronto and beyond. By signing up you consent to receive the above newsletter from Postmedia Network Inc. Please try again This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. While continuing to deny accusations that it's deliberately starving Gazans, Israel has now begun parachuting in food supplies. That's a delivery mechanism tried by several foreign air forces a year ago but abandoned, at the time, amid concerns about scale and safety. 'There's a campaign full of lies under way' that's created 'a mistaken impression of famine in Gaza,' Danny Danon, Israel's ambassador to the UN, told Tel Aviv radio station 103 FM. 'Therefore the cabinet decided yesterday to bring in aid, in order to show the world that we are heeding the claims, even if we disagree about the facts.' Sunday's decision was announced by the military without comment from Netanyahu or Defense Minister Israel Katz. It marked a de facto reversal of Israel's cut-off of UN-led humanitarian relief in March after the previous Gaza ceasefire expired, a tactic Netanyahu aides had said would deprive Hamas of a means of controlling the populace while feeding its own fighters. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Mahmoud Mardawi, a senior Hamas official, described the about-face on Telegram as 'not a solution, but rather, a belated and twisted confession of a crime having been committed.' Negotiations in Doha on a new truce faltered last week, with Israel and the US accusing Hamas of stonewalling and hinting that a further escalation in the more than 21-month-old war could follow. 'I think they want to die, and it's very, very bad,' US President Donald Trump said of the Iran-backed Palestinian Islamist fighters on Friday. 'It got to a point where you're going to have to finish the job.' No Immunity Eli Cohen, a minister in Netanyahu's security cabinet, said plans for the next stage of the war had been approved. Interviewed on Israel's Army Radio, he gave no details. He did, however, reiterate that Israel doesn't consider Hamas leaders abroad to have 'immunity' from its attacks. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Israeli troops and tanks have already overrun 75% of the Gaza Strip, skirting areas where Hamas is believed to be holding 50 hostages. The proposed truce would have returned half of them in exchange for hundreds of jailed Palestinians, and boosted aid for Gaza, over a period of 60 days. Recovering the remaining hostages, however, would have required Israel commit to ending the war and fully withdrawing, Hamas said. Israel has ruled that out so long as Hamas, which is on terrorism blacklists in much of the West, retains weaponry and rules in Gaza. Israeli National Security Minister Itamar Ben Gvir, a far-right member of Netanyahu's coalition government, said he was excluded from the decision to restore UN aid. His ideological kinsman, Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich, also opposes pausing the assault on Hamas and wants a total Gaza takeover — even if that poses a risk to the 20 hostages believed to be still alive. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Netanyahu on Friday said Israel and the US were 'considering alternative options to bring our hostages home, end Hamas's terror rule, and secure lasting peace for Israel and our region.' That followed a threat by Katz that the 'gates of hell will open' if Hamas didn't free the hostages soon. Asked on 103 FM if Israel what such statements might presage, Danon said: 'I'm not aware of any inventions that haven't already been tried.' More than 59,000 Palestinians have been killed in the war, according to the Hamas-run health ministry, which doesn't distinguish between civilians and combatants. Israel launched the offensive in retaliation for a Hamas cross-border raid on Oct. 7, 2023 in which about 1,200 people were killed and 250 kidnapped. It has lost 455 soldiers in Gaza combat, including three over the weekend. This advertisement has not loaded yet, but your article continues below. Aid convoys from Jordan and Egypt rolled into Gaza on Sunday. The Israeli military said 'humanitarian corridors,' around which it would hold fire, were being established in coordination with the UN for deliveries to areas where ground forces aren't active. Construction of a UAE-initiated water pipeline from Egypt to Gaza would commence in the coming days, it added. When it sidelined the UN relief network earlier in the year, Israel set up a US-backed alternative, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation, with the aim of excluding Hamas. The foundation says it's distributed enough food staples for more than 90 million meals, yet has acknowledged not being able to reach all of Gaza's population. It's also been dogged by allegations that hundreds of Palestinians aid-seekers have been shot dead near its distribution points — incidents for which the GHF and IDF have denied responsibility. Ghazi Hamad, a senior Hamas official, told Al Araby TV on Saturday that as part of the truce talks, Israel had agreed to disband the GHF. Israeli officials have neither confirmed nor denied that. — With assistance from Fadwa Hodali and Alexander Weber. Sports Columnists Sunshine Girls Sunshine Girls Toronto & GTA


Winnipeg Free Press
2 hours ago
- Winnipeg Free Press
Passengers flee smoking jet on emergency slide after apparent landing gear problem at Denver airport
DENVER (AP) — Passengers slid down an emergency slide of a smoking jet at Denver's airport due to a possible problem with the plane's landing gear, authorities said. American Airlines Flight 3023 reported a 'possible landing gear incident' during its departure from Denver International Airport on Saturday afternoon, the Federal Aviation Administration said. The Boeing 737 MAX 8 was on its way to Miami International Airport. Video aired by local media showed people sliding down the inflatable chute near the front of the plane while clutching luggage and small children. Some of the passengers, including at least one adult carrying a young child, tripped at the end of the slide and fell onto the concrete runway tarmac. The passengers were then taken to the terminal by bus. One of the passengers was transported to a medical facility, authorities said. Five people were evaluated for injuries at the scene but did not require hospitalization, Denver International Airport officials said in a statement. 'About halfway to takeoff speed, we hear a big bang and a pop,' passenger Shaun Williams told KUSA-TV. 'The pilot immediately started abort procedures for taking off. You could feel him start to hit the brakes.' Firefighters called to the airport extinguished a fire after responding to the aircraft, the Denver Fire Department said. In a statement, the FAA said it will investigate.


Toronto Star
11 hours ago
- Toronto Star
Israeli military to pause fighting in 3 Gaza areas as concerns over hunger surge
DEIR AL-BALAH, Gaza Strip (AP) — The Israeli military said Sunday it would pause fighting in three populated areas of Gaza for 10 hours a day and open secure routes for aid delivery to desperate Palestinians, launching a series of steps meant to address a surge in hunger in the territory as Israel faces a wave of international criticism over its conduct in the 21-month war. The military said it would begin a 'tactical pause' in Gaza City, Deir al-Balah and Muwasi, three areas of the territory with large populations, to 'increase the scale of humanitarian aid' entering the territory. The pause would begin every day at 10:00 a.m. to 8:00 p.m. local time until further notice, beginning Sunday.