Communications blackout, severe hunger prolong suffering for Palestinians in Gaza

A Palestinian boy cries for his relatives who were killed in the Israeli bombardment of the Gaza Strip, at Nasser hospital in Khan Younis, Friday, Dec. 15, 2023. (AP Photo/Mohammed Dahman)

The United Nations says that internet disruptions caused by the war in Gaza have caused a communications blackout and more suffering for innocent Palestinians.

Internet and telephone lines went down Thursday evening and were still inaccessible Saturday morning, according to internet access advocacy group NetBlocks.org, hampering aid deliveries and rescue efforts as Israel's war against Gaza's ruling militant group Hamas stretched into the 11th week.

“The internet blackout is ongoing, and based on our records it is the longest such incident” in the over-two-month war, said Alp Toker, the group’s director. The United Nations’ humanitarian affairs department said communications with Gaza were “severely disrupted” due to damage to telecommunications lines in the south.

Since the war began after the Oct. 7 terrorist attack on Israel, 85% of the Gaza Strip's 2.3 million Palestinian residents have been driven from their homes southward to a humanitarian safe zone while Israel fights Hamas. 

With limited humanitarian aid able to reach Gaza, the U.N.'s World Food Program reported a surge from 38% to 56% in the number of displaced households suffering severe hunger in the last two weeks.