Palestinians cut off from loved ones due to communications blackout in Gaza

Nasir Mahdi, a Palestinian man living in Gaza, is clouded with anxiety and worry as he has been cut off from all contact with his family in Gaza City for more than a week due to the communications blackout in the coastal enclave, reported Xinhua.

"I used to call my family every day to check on their states. However, I've lost all my connectivity with them ... I'm worried about their fate," said the 55-year-old father of four, who, currently staying in a temporary tent on the street of the southernmost Rafah city, has been displaced for more than three months amid the Israel-Hamas conflict.

Sitting with his sons and grandchildren amid the sound of explosions caused by the Israeli raids, Mahdi looked from time to time at his mobile phone, hoping for the return of telecommunications services at any moment.

"It is too hard to wait for the news about your family and relatives without knowing if they've survived the Israeli attacks," he said. "My body is here, but my thinking is with my daughters in Gaza City... I cannot withstand any more losses."

For Mohammed Sami, a Palestinian man currently staying in the West Bank city of Ramallah, every attempt to reach his sons and daughters in Rafah city has failed.

Three days before the outbreak of the conflict, he left Gaza for treatment in the West Bank and luckily escaped the bloody battles. But now, the 62-year-old father of six is haunted by agitation due to the near-total communications blackout in Gaza.

"The only means of communication between us has been cut off ... I don't know whether they have survived intense Israeli raids," he said.

In a bid to search for the news on his family, Sami is spending all his time in front of the TV to follow up on all the information related to Gaza.

"I prayed a lot to not hear the names of my family members among the casualties," he said.

On Jan. 12, Palestinian telecommunications companies operating in the Gaza Strip announced a communications blackout in most parts of the besieged enclave, the ninth such outage since Oct. 7, 2023.

The continued interruption of telecommunications and internet services would "cause disasters that threaten the lives of citizens," Ismail Thawabta, head of the Hamas-run government media office in Gaza, told Xinhua. "No one will be able to reach the casualties or ambulances, which may lead to the increase of the deaths."