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JERUSALEM – Cutting off an enemy’s lines of communication is an ancient tool of war. But the near-total communications blackout in Gaza as Israel expands its military campaign has plunged residents into a deep digital darkness.
Before Friday evening, when phone and internet connections were abruptly cut off, Gaza could be poor and have trouble charging, but if you had a cell phone with a few minutes of credit you could still make calls. Now those minutes are useless.
More than two million people in Gaza now have little or no ability to text, speak or scroll. You can’t call an ambulance. They cannot check on their loved ones. No Facebook, WhatsApp, Instagram. No news. Equally worrying is that people can’t call. Now there is a frightening silence.
See how the Israeli siege has plunged Gaza into darkness and isolation
Rana Khalil is 27 years old and works in a human rights office in Ramallah, West Bank.
During the war, she was in daily contact with members of her extended family living in northern Gaza. They have not spoken or written since the power outage began on Friday evening.
“How do we feel now? I don’t know if anyone in the family is still alive,” she said.
She is not alone. “Nobody, nobody can reach anyone in Gaza,” she said. “There is no connection.”
Journalists in Gaza shared videos online after the Gaza Strip lost almost all internet connection due to reports of heavy bombardment. (Video: The Washington Post)
There are exceptions. Some satellite phones and dishes. And Gazans who have SIM cards from foreign cell phone providers can sometimes get a phone connection, she said. “But no one has those in Gaza.”
Khalil asked, “Can you please ask for help getting news from Gaza about the families there?”
Israel destroyed cell phone towers, cable lines and infrastructure with strikes that peaked Friday evening, resulting in a near-total loss of connectivity. The largest Palestinian telecommunications provider, Paltel, blamed Israel for a “complete disruption” of internet, mobile and landline services.
Communications in Gaza were already weak before Friday. A charged phone became a luxury and few Gazans had money left over to spend on minutes and internet plans after Israel ordered a “full siege” on October 9, cutting off electricity, fuel and water.
In pictures: The Israel-Gaza war in its third week
Before the blackout, calls to local Palestinian numbers often dropped or failed to connect. Internet access via phone plans or WiFi was intermittent and slow. The sound of explosions could often be heard in the background during conversations.
Palestinians in Gaza told the Washington Post that they avoided responding to Israeli numbers they did not know because they feared it could be a call from the Israeli military warning of an impending attack – although most attacks, people said, occurred without prior notice.
A Post reporter received a text message from a mother in Gaza on Friday evening, just before the power outage: “Thank God I’m OK. How are you doing? We are just very tired.” It was the last message.
In the last 24 hours, the Post has contacted few people in Gaza. Abdul Raouf Shaath, a Palestinian photojournalist, was reached through a messenger application and responded with a voice message.
“By using a weak internet network and international subscription, it is very difficult for us to communicate with you and communication is very slow,” Shaath said.
Gaza, he said, “is now being destroyed before the eyes of the world” and “removed from the noise of the world.”
He said it was impossible to call or text within the Gaza Strip or call emergency services for help.
Shortly after that voicemail, communication between the photographer and The Post ended and could not be restored.
The Committee to Protect Journalists issued a statement expressing concern that cellphones and internet services were down in Gaza. “A communications blackout is a communications blackout,” the CPJ said. “This can have serious consequences and lead to an independent, factual information vacuum that can be filled with deadly propaganda, disinformation and misinformation.”
The statement continued: “As news outlets lose touch with their teams and reporters in Gaza who provide independent testimony about the developments and casualty toll of this war, the world is losing insight into the reality of all sides involved in this conflict .”
On Saturday evening, Bassem Nasser, a Catholic relief worker in Rafah, southern Gaza, posted this WhatsApp message: “The communication crisis continues. Limited access and information about the situation outside of my own location. Sounds of air raids and unprecedented artillery fire. No internal communication between the team. I cannot confirm the safety of the staff.”
Since Friday evening, almost all calls to residents of the Gaza Strip have not gone through. “The cell phone number you dialed is not available at the moment,” a recording answers instead.
Dalia Shurrab, 40, is a Palestinian from Gaza living in Amman, Jordan. For many years she worked with the humanitarian group Mercy Corps.
“On Friday morning we were all on a video call together. My nephew wanted to play an online game with me. Then the line went dead,” Shurrab said.
She has been trying to reach her family in Khan Younis in the south of the Gaza Strip for 24 hours now – via cell phones, internet and landline. Nothing.
Shurrab started crying and apologized. “My mother’s voice was always what comforted me, you know? We talk every day. She always calms me down and always thinks of hope,” she said. “It’s so hard now, I’m sorry.”
She didn’t want to end the conversation.
Berger reported from Tel Aviv and Harb from London.