Three-quarters of Gaza’s telecom towers out of service
Israeli attacks on Gaza have knocked out telecommunications and internet at least 10 times since October last year, while rendering 75 percent of the enclave’s mobile phone towers inoperable, according to Palestine’s Central Bureau of Statistics and Ministry of Communications and Information Technology.
The blackouts have isolated Gaza’s population, obstructed journalists from reporting on Israeli attacks, and hampered search and rescue operations, said a statement from the ministry and statistics bureau cited by the Wafa news agency.
Digital rights group Access Now, which reports on global internet censorship, said evidence shows Gaza’s outages stem from a combination of Israel’s “direct attacks on civilian telecommunications infrastructure (including cell towers, fiber optic cables, and ISP offices), restrictions on access to electricity (through infrastructure attacks, denial of service, and blockading of fuel required to run generators), and technical disruptions to telecommunications services”.
Rights groups, including Amnesty International, have warned that the blackouts challenge efforts to document potential rights abuses.
Satellite images show preparation of Israeli logistical supply routes for Rafah crossing
Satellite imagery taken from May 3 to 11 shows bulldozing and blowing up of buildings east of the Rafah crossing and the construction of new Israeli logistical supply routes to Rafah.
The images show Israeli forces paved two logistical supply routes, the first connecting the Kerem Shalom military site to the Rafah land crossing, 300 metres (984 feet) from the Philadelphi Corridor (the strip of land between the Egypt and Gaza borders), and up to 3.5km (2 miles) long, and its completion appears in the photos taken on May 11.
The photos also show the construction of a second road linking the Amitai military base to the north of Rafah, in addition to the bulldozing and destruction of lands and buildings located at a distance of 600m (984 feet) from the Philadelphi axis.
Gaza’s main crossings still shuttered, not viable: UN
It is “nearly impossible” to distribute aid within Gaza, where more than 1.7 million people are displaced, says the UN’s Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs (OCHA), adding that the crossings are either “closed, unsafe to access, or not logistically viable”.
The main Rafah crossing on the border with Egypt, now seized by Israel’s military, has been completely shuttered since May 8, cutting off the only evacuation route for injured Palestinians in need of medical treatment.
