Internet and Telephone Connections Gradually Recover in Gaza After Power Outages

JAKARTA - Communications services are slowly returning to operation in several areas of Gaza after being cut off throughout the Palestinian enclave, according to local service providers.

"We would like to announce the gradual return of communication services (telephone, cellular and Internet) in various areas of the Gaza Strip, after being cut off from the Israeli side," said Palestinian telecommunications company PalTel on Monday, reported by CNN, November 7.

Other telecom operators, including JawwaL and Ooredoo Palestine, posted similar updates on Facebook.

Netblocks, an Internet service monitoring company, confirmed in a post on its X platform on Monday that internet access was back online.

"Metrics show internet connectivity is being restored in the Gaza Strip after a near-total telecommunications blackout on Sunday, which was the second longest such occurrence since the start of the current conflict with Israel. Overall service remains well below pre-war levels," he explained.

Earlier, communications in Gaza had been cut on Sunday for the third time since October 7, with humanitarian organizations saying they were unable to reach employees in the territory.

When asked by CNN to respond to the earlier communications blackout, the Israeli military said they had no comment to provide.

In late October, Amnesty International said human rights organizations were "increasingly having difficulty documenting violations due to the intensity of Israeli attacks and communications restrictions."

Apart from the community and humanitarian agencies, journalists in Gaza are also affected by the loss of communications networks in the Palestinian enclave.

CNN correspondent in Gaza Hassan Elsayeh, along with a number of other journalists, had difficulty transmitting the recorded images they got, even though they were in a high location and close to cell towers.

"Gaza has not had internet since yesterday. We are trying our best, but with great and unimaginable difficulties to uncover what is happening in Gaza," he said

Another journalist, Motaz Azaiza, said it took longer to upload photos online.

"Instead of taking a minute to upload a photo online, it takes me 10 minutes," he said.

"There was fighting and there was shooting. We didn't wear helmets," added Azaiza.