Palestinian journalists in Gaza struggle to do their job as Israel’s military targets them and shuts off communications

By Yousef Alhelou

The Israeli war on Gaza entered its 23rd day amid Israeli attempts to impose censorship and media blackout. As the all-out war intensified amid anticipated ground invasion the unexpected happened.

The unprecedented move isolated Gaza from the rest of the outside world, with locals unable to contact ambulances, not knowing what’s going on around them.

Emergency phone lines stopped working. Ambulance and civil defence crews were unable to locate the targeted places to rescue the wounded. Locals were in the dark, unable to contact their relatives.

As all communication lines and internet went down, some journalists working with major news channels, mainly Aljazeera, were able to continue their reporting using satellite phones. Others were sent e-sim QR codes from volunteers abroad but faced a problem scanning the code as Wi-Fi is required to install the service. Others with foreign sim cards, including Israeli and Egyptian ones, were trying to connect to the internet by going on top of high buildings. That was very difficult because the Israeli army has been disrupting signals over Gaza, not to mention the bombardment of Gaza’s main telecommunication company PalTel and high-rise towers that housed telecom antennas.

“Israel’s bombardment of the strip had destroyed all remaining international routs connecting Gaza to the outside world” Palestine Telecom Jamwal stated.

Pressure was mounting internationally as footage and videos stopped emerging from Gaza for almost 36 hours. A campaign was launched on X (formerly Twitter) urging Elon Musk to send Starlink to Gaza as was the case in Ukraine when he provided the internet to overcome Russian attempts to impose a media blackout.

Musk responded saying he doesn’t mind providing internet to international humanitarian organizations working in Gaza. This response was met with Israel’s refusal, claiming that Hamas might benefit from restoring service.

A parallel campaign was staged online urging Egyptian telecommunication companies to expand their signal to cover Gaza. Many international organizations expressed their worry over the safety of their staff and workers on the ground.

It was reported that Washington pressured Israel to re-connect the telecommunication grid to Gaza.

While Palestinians in Gaza remained in the dark for almost two days, the Israeli military continued to massacre civilians in the tiny occupied, besieged coastal territory, with entire residential areas levelled to the ground.

When the internet was restored relief prevailed, including among journalists who assured their followers from the outside world that they were ok, while locals were able to call their loved ones amid tears of joy mixed with sadness.

In addition to internet access still being patchy in Gaza, journalists face obstacles uploading their videos because Israel, which controls the frequencies over Gaza, only allow G2 bandwidth. The committee to protect journalists CPJ stated it was highly alarmed by the widespread of communication blackout in Gaza.

A communications blackout is a news blackout. Twenty-seven Palestinian journalists have been killed by the Israeli military in Gaza so far. Foreign journalists and stranded Palestinians on the Egyptian side are not allowed to enter Gaza through the Egyptian controlled Rafah crossing because of instructions from Israel.

It’s ridiculous and outrageous that Palestinians have to prove their humanity, while the world is allowing Israel to commit genocide. It is taking devastating a toll on the civilian population, with over 8,000 including 3,400 children killed by Israel so far..

It’s a war like no other in our time, without concern for ethics or humanitarian concerns.

While Israel’s war on Palestinians in the world’s largest open-air prison “Gaza” is ongoing amid international silence and complicity by western governments, Palestinian journalists are continuing to report despite the risks and lack of internet and other advanced means of communications.

Yousef Alhelou is a Palestinian-British freelance journalist and political analyst based in London.