Most international television channels and news agencies were unable to provide live coverage or video updates from the Gaza Strip overnight due to communications disruptions as Israel stepped up its military deployment in the Palestinian territory.
Israel’s increased bombings and raids come three weeks after Hamas terror attacks in southern Israel killed 1,400 people and kidnapped more than 220 people and returned them to Gaza as hostages.
The Palestinian telecommunications company Paltel said on Friday evening that all landline, mobile and internet connections in the Gaza Strip were lost after Israeli bombings destroyed the remaining fiber optic lines serving the area.
The only broadcasters to offer a live video signal outside the area were news agency Agence France Presse (AFP) and Qatar-based broadcaster Al Jazeera, the former doing so via a satellite vehicle.
Most international news crews are equipped with satellite phones, but users often have to stand on top of a tall building to receive a signal, which is not safe during a bombing.
BBC Radio 4’s Today program reported Saturday morning UK time that it was satisfied the team in Gaza was safe but was unable to broadcast due to the failure of internet and telephone connections.
Instead, the program read a short report submitted by text by local correspondent Rushdi Abu Alouf, currently stationed in southern Gaza, in which he described “a massive bombardment of the northern Gaza Strip on an unprecedented scale described.”
A recorded update was also played in the final minutes of the broadcast in which Abu Alouf described scenes of chaos and desperation as people tried to get news of family and friends in other parts of the area.
Asked about the communications breakdown on the Today show, Mark Regev, senior adviser to Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, said such an approach is standard practice in military operations around the world.
“In military operations of the British Army and the US Army, it is often standard behavior to disrupt enemy communications,” he said.
He did not confirm that Israel had deliberately cut off communications in Gaza.
‘I did not say that. I did not say that. I just said this is a normal practice of Western democratic armies,” he said.
When asked how he would feel if he could not communicate with his family, Regev replied: “There are many Israelis who are in exactly the same situation.” They have loved ones in Gaza with whom they have no contact. The Red Cross is not even allowed to visit them.”
According to the latest Israeli figures, 229 people are currently in Hamas custody. Testimony this week from 85-year-old grandmother Yocheved Lifshitz, one of four people released since October 7, revealed that they are being held in separate groups in a labyrinthine network of tunnels under Gaza.
The New York-based Committee to Protect Journalists (CPJ), chaired by veteran international correspondent Jodie Ginsberg, released a statement condemning the reported communication breakdown.
“As news outlets lose contact with their teams and reporters in Gaza, who act as independent witnesses to provide information on the developments and the number of casualties of this war, the world loses insight into the reality of all parties involved in this conflict, ” it said. said.
“A communication failure is a communication failure. This can lead to serious consequences with an independent, factual information vacuum that can be filled with deadly propaganda, disinformation and disinformation.”
Since international journalists have been banned from entering the Gaza Strip since October 7, the task of reporting on the situation on the ground for its 2.3 million inhabitants has been assigned to around 1,200 local journalists working for various local, regional – and international media work.
All major news agencies and broadcasters withdrew their staff from the Gaza City media center shortly after October 13, when Israel sent leaflets to the north of the Gaza Strip urging the population to move south.
Most organizations now operate from temporary offices in the southern town of Khan Yunis.
According to local health authorities, around 7,000 people have died in Israeli bombings in Gaza.
That figure is disputed by Israel, which claims that health authorities are under Hamas control, but the country has not yet released an alternative estimate.
Journalists have also been affected by the violence: the Brussels-based International Federation of Journalists (IFJ) said 23 Palestinian journalists were killed, several injured and several missing in Gaza on October 26.
Al Jazeera released a statement on Thursday condemning the deaths of Gaza correspondent Wael al-Dahdouh’s wife, daughter, son and grandson in an Israeli airstrike on the Nuseirat camp in central Gaza, where they were based in Israel’s advice to leave the north was brought to the area. .
Reuters and AFP reported on Friday that the Israeli military told them it could not guarantee the safety of their staff after they wrote to them seeking assurances that their journalists in Gaza would not be targeted by Israeli attacks.
Most international media are working on contingency plans to evacuate their staff and families through the Rafah border crossing with Egypt if they request to leave Gaza for their safety.
At the moment, this is not possible, as the crossing is not accessible to Gazans who want to leave the area, while many people also say they would be reluctant to evacuate even if they did, fearing that they could not not evacuated, there would be an opportunity to go back.
Source: Deadline
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