Internet restored in Gaza after three days: Palestinian telecom official

Internet is back up in the war-battered Gaza Strip, the head of the Palestinian Telecommunications Regulatory Authority told AFP on Saturday, after a three-day blackout blamed on Israel’s military.

“The network is up now in all of the Gaza Strip,” said the regulatory body’s CEO Laith Daraghmeh.

The Palestinian Authority’s telecommunications ministry reported on Thursday that internet and fixed-line communications were down after Israeli forces targeted a fibre optic cable, a claim Israel has not commented on.

The ministry said that its maintenance and repair teams had at first been unable to safely access the sites where the damage occurred.

The Palestine Red Crescent Society said on Thursday that the internet outage hindered its operations by impeding communication with first responders in the field, also blaming Israel for the blackout.

Now in its 21st month, the war in Gaza has caused massive damage to infrastructure including water mains, power lines and roads across the Palestinian territory.

Israeli firing and airstrikes killed at least 45 Palestinians across the Gaza Strip, many of them near an aid distribution site operated by the U.S.-backed Gaza Humanitarian Foundation on Saturday, local health authorities said.

Medics at Al-Awda and Al-Aqsa Hospitals in central Gaza areas, where most of the casualties were moved to, said at least 15 people were killed as they tried to approach the GHF aid distribution site near the Netzarim corridor.

The Israeli army said in a statement that an aircraft had opened fire on a person “to neutralise the threat” after he advanced towards troops and ignored warning shots fired near a group.

Last week, the army warned Palestinians not to approach routes leading to sites of the GHF between 6 p.m. and 6 a.m. local time, describing these roads as closed military zones. The GHF said none of its distribution centres was opened on Saturday.