Israel's War Destroys 74% of Gaza's Telecommunications, Damages May Exceed $700 Million
Speaking at the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Board meeting in Geneva, Huda Al-Wuhaidi, Undersecretary of the Palestinian Ministry of Telecommunications and Digital Economy, detailed the widespread destruction inflicted on Gaza's digital infrastructure.
She revealed that the direct losses to the sector amount to $164 million, primarily due to the destruction of 580 cellular towers and vital fiber optic networks.
Al-Wuhaidi warned that the projected economic losses over the next five years could reach $736 million, given the massive scale of destruction and the urgent need to completely rebuild the sector from the ground up.
'We are witnessing an unprecedented crisis in Gaza's digital infrastructure,' she said. 'There has been a near-total collapse of communication services, and no practical steps have yet been taken to implement UN Resolution 1424, passed in 2024, which mandates the reconstruction of the Palestinian telecom sector.'
She urged the ITU Council to urgently develop and implement an actionable plan to enforce the UN resolution, calling for immediate international intervention to protect Gaza's digital infrastructure from further Israeli attacks.
Since the beginning of Israel's military campaign on October 7, 2023, Palestinian telecom providers have reported repeated and widespread service outages across the Gaza Strip, caused by ongoing bombardments and fuel shortages.
The war, supported by the United States, has led in nearly 190,000 Palestinian casualties, killed or wounded, most of them women and children.
Over 11,000 people remain missing, and hundreds of thousands have been displaced amid relentless air and ground attacks.
Al-Wuhaidi concluded her remarks with a plea to the international community: 'Rebuilding Gaza's digital lifeline is not only a matter of infrastructure but a matter of human rights and survival.'
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