These blackouts have exacerbated an already dire humanitarian situation, denying people access to reliable safety information, emergency medical services, and contact with family and friends both inside and outside Gaza. According to OCHA, lack of communications has “brought the already challenging delivery of humanitarian assistance to a complete halt and is depriving people of life-saving information.” The Palestinian Red Crescent Society described directing ambulances based on the sound or location of explosions, in the absence of telecommunication services.
The shutting down of the internet during an armed conflict needs to take into account the basic principles of the laws of war, including those of necessity and proportionality. The principle of proportionality prohibits actions in which the expected civilian harm is excessive in relation to the anticipated military advantage.
Under international human rights law, governments have an obligation to ensure that restrictions to the internet are provided by law and are a necessary and proportionate response to a specific security concern. Even in times of conflict, shutting down entire parts of communications systems can never be justified under human rights law.
Decades of Israeli control and repression have left Gaza’s communications infrastructure centralized, controlled, and susceptible to disruption through physical damage and technical interference by Israel. The Israeli government strictly limits what services telecommunications companies can provide in Gaza and how Palestinian networks connect to the rest of the world.
Because all wired traffic must transit through Israel before interconnecting to the global network, the Israeli government has opportunities to disconnect Gaza from the internet using technical means. Many service providers in Gaza also rely on the same physical networks to provide access, leaving the entire communications network more susceptible to disruption as a result of physical damage.
Prior rounds of hostilities between Israel and Palestinian armed groups have resulted in significant disruption of communications due to lack of power and physical damage and have devastated communications infrastructure, further delaying network development and deepening the digital divide between Gaza and the rest of the world. Ongoing restrictions on imports further impede the ability of Gaza telecommunications networks to recover from destruction and expand. “During war our teams can only move during ceasefire and if granted safe passages,” Paltel said. “During this war that did not happen except on one occasion where our teams were given a 2-hour window to repair a major fiber cut 8 days after it happened.” “The Israeli government should allow fuel to reach Gaza to avoid plunging its population further into isolation and end its collective punishment of Gaza’s civilian population,” Brown said.