Palestinian Territory – An imminent threat of total telecommunications and internet disruption looms over the Gaza Strip due to the Israeli army's deliberate, repeated targeting of residential high-rises in Gaza City.
Targeting high-rise buildings is part of Israel's declared military operation, which explicitly seeks to destroy civilian infrastructure and forcibly displace the population, exemplifying the forced uprooting of Palestinians and the alteration of their demographic reality in the context of the genocide Israel has been committing for 23 months.
The Israeli Air Force targeted the 15-storey Mushtaha Tower west of Gaza City on the afternoon of Friday, 5 September, striking it with five high-explosive bombs that completely destroyed the building and damaged hundreds of nearby tents. Multi-storey buildings often host base station antennas for telecommunications and local internet networks on their roofs, making such attacks a direct threat to communications across the Gaza Strip.
By targeting residential towers and high-rise buildings, Israel aims to achieve integrated objectives, most notably the policy of urbicide that has intensified since 11 August across Gaza City
By targeting residential towers and high-rise buildings, Israel aims to achieve integrated objectives, most notably the policy of urbicide that has intensified since 11 August across Gaza City. This strategy terrorises civilians, forces their displacement southward, and erases the urban environment that could otherwise allow their return in the future.
It also seeks to destroy what remains of vital telecommunications and internet infrastructure, further isolating residents and undermining their ability to document crimes or request aid. This forms part of Israel's systematic policy of combining physical destruction with displacement to impose a new demographic reality.
In addition to the destruction of base station antennas, telecommunications and internet networks face the risk of total collapse as operating stations are expected to shut down due to fuel scarcity. This is part of Israel's systematic policy of combining bombing with siege to sever the city's lifeline and isolate its residents from the outside world. It serves as an additional tool to forcibly displace them, prevent their return, and erase evidence of mass crimes committed.
Targeting the communications sector has consistently accompanied Israel's aggressive military operations since the start of the genocide in the Gaza Strip. The aim is to cut off communication channels, obstruct humanitarian response, and impose total isolation on the population, creating confusion and uncertainty that drive forced displacement.
The Israeli army preceded the expansion of its operations in Gaza City by killing several prominent journalists as part of its ongoing assault on the press in the Gaza Strip. It has now turned to targeting cell and internet towers in a systematic effort to obscure the truth and block documentation of ongoing crimes, creating a blackout that enables further violations to be carried out beyond the eyes of the world and without accountability.
A communications blackout gravely impedes the work of medical and relief teams, preventing them from reaching victims who could bleed to death without rescue. It also denies those trapped under rubble the chance to seek help, disrupts ambulance coordination and patient transport, and blocks urgent humanitarian responses. This crime multiplies the number of victims and makes the blackout an indirect means of killing as lethal as direct bombardment.
The Israeli army has cut off telecommunications and internet services more than 12 times over the past 23 months as part of a systematic policy to isolate Gaza from the world and obstruct humanitarian response. Communications are now disrupted almost continuously due to the deliberate destruction of networks and the power outage caused by the blockade, deepening the population's humanitarian suffering.
Israel's deliberate practice of cutting off or disrupting communications in the Gaza Strip, whether fully or partially, violates a fundamental human right and serves to deprive civilians of vital means of survival. It also obstructs the work of humanitarian, medical, and media personnel, making it a central tool of genocide.
All relevant parties must pressure Israel to stop destroying what remains of telecommunications and internet infrastructure in the Gaza Strip and to end all unlawful attacks on civilians and civilian structures. Euro-Med Monitor warns of the potentially catastrophic consequences of cutting off communications, both for humanitarian operations and for individuals trying to connect in times of urgent need.
All states, individually and collectively, must fulfil their legal obligations and act urgently to stop this genocide in Gaza, taking every feasible measure to protect Palestinian civilians there. They must enforce Israel's adherence to international law and the rulings of the International Court of Justice and hold Israel accountable for its crimes against Palestinians.
This includes, without waiver, enforcing the arrest warrants issued by the International Criminal Court for the Israeli Prime Minister and former Minister of Defence at the earliest opportunity and surrendering them to international justice, upholding the principle that no one is immune from prosecution for international crimes.
The UN General Assembly must urgently act under Resolution 377 (V) "Uniting for Peace", which authorises it to address situations where the Security Council fails to act due to a lack of unanimity among its five permanent members. Under this resolution, the General Assembly may issue recommendations to UN member states for collective measures to ensure the restoration of international peace and security.
The General Assembly must urgently act under the aforementioned resolution to establish and deploy an international peacekeeping force in the Gaza Strip. This step is necessary to end crimes against civilians, guarantee their protection, secure unhindered access to humanitarian aid, safeguard medical and relief facilities, and stop the systematic targeting of such facilities. Activating this mechanism is both a legal and moral duty of the international community to protect over two million people in Gaza from ongoing genocide and grave violations.
The international community must also impose economic, diplomatic, and military sanctions on Israel in response to its systematic and grave violations of international law. This includes banning weapons exports to Israel and halting arms purchases from it; suspending all forms of political, financial, and military support and cooperation; freezing the assets of officials involved in crimes against Palestinians or inciting such acts; and imposing travel bans on them. Moreover, trade privileges and bilateral agreements that grant Israel economic advantages, enabling it to commit crimes, must be suspended.
