Gaza is now in a near-total blackout after Israeli airstrikes destroyed phone and internet services, raising concerns war crimes could be covered as information is unable to get out.
Smoke rises and billows in different regions of Gaza as the Israeli army conducts the most intense air attacks on the 21st day in Gaza Strip, Gaza on October 28, 2023. Due to Israel cutting off electricity and not allowing fuel supplies, Gaza was plunged into darkness, and the sky was frequently illuminated by the bombs being dropped by Israeli aircraft. (Photo by Ali Jadallah/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Palestinians in Gaza were unable to communicate with people outside for a second day on Saturday Oct. 28 after Israel launched some of its heaviest bombing since the war began.
Palestinian telecoms provider Jawwal said on Friday Oct. 27 that Israeli airstrikes had destroyed “all remaining international routes connecting Gaza to the outside world,” Al Jazeera reported.
Smoke rises and billows in different regions of Gaza as the Israeli army conducts the most intense air attacks on the 21st day in Gaza Strip, Gaza on October 27, 2023. Due to Israel cutting off electricity and not allowing fuel supplies, Gaza was plunged into darkness, and the sky was frequently illuminated by the bombs being dropped by Israeli aircraft. (Photo by Ali Jadallah/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Human rights groups such as Amnesty International said it had lost contact with its staff on the ground, making it increasingly difficult to document war crimes.
The director-general of the World Health Organization said that the blackout is “making it impossible for ambulances to reach the injured”.
Smoke rises and billows in different regions of Gaza as the Israeli army conducts the most intense air attacks on the 21st day in Gaza Strip, Gaza on October 27, 2023. Due to Israel cutting off electricity and not allowing fuel supplies, Gaza was plunged into darkness, and the sky was frequently illuminated by the bombs being dropped by Israeli aircraft. (Photo by Ali Jadallah/Anadolu via Getty Images)
Only satellite phones are still functioning, according to Al Jazeera.
The cutoff has made it impossible to know the casualty figures and scale and details of the fighting on the ground.
This image grab from an AFP TV footage shows balls of fire and smoke rising above Gaza City during an Israeli strike on October 27, 2023, as battles between Israel and the Palestinian Hamas movement continue. The Israeli army on the evening of October 27 carried out bombings of “unprecedented” intensity since the start of the war in the north of the Gaza Strip, particularly in Gaza City, according to images from AFP and the Hamas movement. (Photo by YOUSEF HASSOUNA/AFP via Getty Images)
