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Network The Internet

Internet Access In Gaza Partially Restored After Blackout (techcrunch.com) 262

An anonymous reader quotes a report from TechCrunch: After a weekend of almost complete internet blackout, connectivity in Gaza has been partially restored. On Friday, internet monitoring firms and experts reported that access to the internet had significantly degraded in the Palestinian enclave. The local internet service NetStream "collapsed," according to NetBlocks, a firm that tracks internet access across the world. At the same time, IODA, another internet monitoring system, showed outages and degradation across several Palestinian internet providers. The lack of internet communications caused emergency lines to stop ringing, made it hard for paramedics to locate the wounded, and for family members to reach relatives and friends, according to The New York Times.

On Sunday, IODA reported "marginal restoration" of internet connectivity in Gaza. Abdulmajeed Melhem, chief executive of the Palestinian main telecommunications company Paltel Group, told The Times that the internet had come back even though the company had not made any repairs. Then on Monday, Gaza had roughly the same access to internet connectivity as before Friday, according to several experts and firms that are monitoring the internet in the region, including Doug Madory, an expert who for years has focused on monitoring networks across the world. "There was the 34 hour complete blackout from Friday to Sunday -- a first for Gaza. Then there was last night's partial outage in northern Gaza," Madory, who is the director of internet analysis at Kentik, told TechCrunch on Monday. "The situation is still very precious: no power, little water. Service could potentially drop out again at any time." [...]

It's unclear what caused the internet outages in Gaza on Friday and what caused the improvements on Sunday and Monday. The Washington Post reported on Sunday that the U.S. government put pressure on the Israeli government to switch the internet back on in Gaza, citing an unnamed U.S. official. "We made it clear they had to be turned back on," the official said. "The communications are back on. They need to stay on," The Post quoted the official as saying. Also on Sunday, The Times reported that the U.S. government believed that the Israeli government was responsible for the near-blackout of the internet in Gaza.

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Internet Access In Gaza Partially Restored After Blackout

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  • by hdyoung ( 5182939 ) on Monday October 30, 2023 @06:10PM (#63967110)
    The gaza internet would DEFINITELY qualify as a legal legit target of war. Definitely used by the hamas side for offensive purposes.
    • by DamnOregonian ( 963763 ) on Monday October 30, 2023 @09:02PM (#63967416)
      The Laws of War are tricky.
      While it's undeniable that it's a legitimate military target, the military also has the duty to minimize civilian casualties.
      Hamas drinks water too. That doesn't mean you can blast all of the water towers in a densely populated city.
      • Re: (Score:2, Insightful)

        by Chas ( 5144 )

        It also means you can't abuse the rules by doing things like building terror tunnels and depots under hospitals, homes, etc and then confusing the situation with crisis actors...

        Something Hamas is INFAMOUS for.

        It's quite literally to the point that if people actually die, it's the fault of Hamas.

        They just wanna kill jews in the largest possible quantity.

        And they don't guive a shit about the Palestinian people. Ir they wouldn't be setting up facilities in such a manner as to use citizens as bullet and bomb

        • by DamnOregonian ( 963763 ) on Tuesday October 31, 2023 @01:10AM (#63967826)

          It also means you can't abuse the rules by doing things like building terror tunnels and depots under hospitals, homes, etc and then confusing the situation with crisis actors...

          No, it does not. The rules are not nullified by the other side breaking them.

          Something Hamas is INFAMOUS for.

          Every terrorist group is famous for flaunting the rules. It's kind of one of their defining features.

          It's quite literally to the point that if people actually die, it's the fault of Hamas.

          No, it's not. That's some stupid shit that sick fucking war criminals say to justify leveling residential blocks in a vendetta.

          They just wanna kill jews in the largest possible quantity.

          Hamas? Absolutely. Palestinians? No.

          And they don't guive a shit about the Palestinian people. Ir they wouldn't be setting up facilities in such a manner as to use citizens as bullet and bomb catchers.

          No argument there. Hamas is human trash.
          Israel is doing their damnedest to meet them in the 9th circle of hell.

          • by Chas ( 5144 )

            So you're okay with a terror group using their own civilians as human shields?

            No. Fuck that.

            "Every terrorist group is famous for flaunting the rules. It's kind of one of their defining features."

            That doesn't make it acceptable.

            "No it's not (Hamas' fault."

            Yeah. It is. They see no problem using their owe people as bullet catchers and bomb proofing.

            You cannot fight such people by being "nice".

            Sorry.

            Once the terrorism's out for play, it's Old Yeller time.

            • Comment removed based on user account deletion
            • So you're okay with a terror group using their own civilians as human shields?

              Oh shut the fuck up.
              Nobody said that. Do you think you're fucking clever with that strawman? How fucking old are you, 15?

              No. Fuck that.

              Indeed. Hamas are war criminals. String the fuckers up.

              Yeah. It is. They see no problem using their owe people as bullet catchers and bomb proofing.

              It doesn't matter what they do.
              War Crimes are committed by each side independent of whether or not the other side commits them.
              There's no "but they did...." defense. None. This is a fact. You can moralize it, and you're free to hold that opinion, but in international law, that opinion is worth shit.

              • That's not how it works. You still think you're a lawyer of international law as you stand up for the Nazis. Fuck you. Fuck the Hitler Youth. Fuck Hamas. Learn your history, you ignorant pile of shit.

                About 1/4th of Allied bombs landed in France. Were you not aware?

          • Hamas? Absolutely. Palestinians? No.

            PotAto....PotAHto...

            • You must remove the buried potatoes, but you must not disturb a particle of soil in the process. No farming for you!

              Also, the soil in no way helped grow the potatoes, and the fact that soil will grow more potatoes is not the fault of the soil.

          • People like you who wept for the Hitler Youth in WWII...

        • Is that really all that's going on here? Or is that just the story your self-selected news sources repeated over and over?

          There is more than just a bunch of loonatics going on a killing spree. There was about 75 years of subjugation and systematic oppression.

        • Exactly.
    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Just being of use to the enemy military is not enough to make something a legitimate target. For example, hospitals treat wounded soldiers with a view to sending them back to fight, but they are also mostly not legitimate military targets.

  • by RightwingNutjob ( 1302813 ) on Monday October 30, 2023 @06:18PM (#63967134)

    Maybe there's a lesson in here.

    Could just be that voting for warmongers is gonna bite you in the balls at some point. Especially when you're dependent on your nominal enemy for food, water, electricity, telecommunications, and just about everything else. Maybe peace is the better option?

    • As consistently interfered with elections and Palestine by supporting Hamas while undermining or openly attacking moderates in the region. They've also resisted any attempt to provide the people of Palestine with stable livings let alone the ability to freely move about outside the open-air prison that is Palestine.

      Nobody is reaping what they sowed here. Both far right-wing governments on both sides use each other and the violence caused by each other to stay in power and to recruit new far right wing a
    • Maybe peace is the better option?

      It is.
      But how will hamas have any power or legitimacy if there's peace?

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      The last elections were in 2006, and there were not considered free. The majority of Palestinians were not old enough to vote in 2006, and half of them hadn't even been born. Half of the population of Gaza is under 18.

      You can flip this logic around too. Some Israelis voted for successive governments that oversaw an invasion and annexation of Palestine, not to mention the violence and killing. If you think that their ancestors voting 44% for Hamas one time is justification for what is happening in Gaza now,

  • by Arzaboa ( 2804779 ) on Monday October 30, 2023 @06:18PM (#63967136)

    If the IDF turns off the internet, the 5 eyes can't spy.

    --
    Life is really simple, but we insist on making it complicated. - Confucius

  • One question (Score:5, Insightful)

    by JustAnotherOldGuy ( 4145623 ) on Monday October 30, 2023 @06:27PM (#63967154) Journal

    One question: What did Hamas think Israel would do when they invaded Israel, killed people, and took hostages? Send a 'thank you' card?

    No, they're going to reduce Gaza to a parking lot of rubble.

    They'll bomb it so hard and so thoroughly that they'll have to update the topographic maps of the area. It's only ~14 meters above sea level, so they may just bomb it until it's underwater.

    I have sympathy for the Palestinians, not for Hamas. Hamas started this and now everyone gets to play whether they want to or not.

    • Re:One question (Score:4, Insightful)

      by quantaman ( 517394 ) on Monday October 30, 2023 @06:43PM (#63967188)

      One question: What did Hamas think Israel would do when they invaded Israel, killed people, and took hostages? Send a 'thank you' card?

      No, they're going to reduce Gaza to a parking lot of rubble.

      They'll bomb it so hard and so thoroughly that they'll have to update the topographic maps of the area. It's only ~14 meters above sea level, so they may just bomb it until it's underwater.

      I have sympathy for the Palestinians, not for Hamas. Hamas started this and now everyone gets to play whether they want to or not.

      What did Israel think Hamas would do when they occupied the West Bank, kicked Palestinians off of their land to build Jewish Settlements, and kept Gaza under a severe blockade for over a decade?

      Israeli or Palestinian, disliking the actions of the leaders doesn't make civilians fair game.

    • That's honestly an open question I personally have not seen any solid evidence for, maybe there's new reporting out there recently

      Most speculate the attack was bait meant to provoke a response, either to win pr support because they were banking on a heavy handed response or draw the IDF into an urban quagmire. It pretty much worked on the US as we got pulled into 20 years of failed nation building from a single incident.

      It could also just be plain ol' terrorism, just chaos and revanchism. This is where i

      • I suspect you're entirely right regarding it not going back to the status quo antebellum.

        Gaza will still be ruled by terrorists, and the world will recognize the Israeli government as being full of war criminals as well.
        This isn't the first war on terror.
        It is the first where the nation fighting said terrorists wiped out more civilians than bad guys, because they were so angry they literally didn't give a fuck.
        I have compassion for that anger, but it doesn't justify the war crimes. Netanyahu will never
    • Re: (Score:2, Troll)

      by drinkypoo ( 153816 )

      One question: What did Hamas think Israel would do when they invaded Israel, killed people, and took hostages? Send a 'thank you' card?

      It's a valid question, but what I want to know is What did Israel expect to happen [vox.com]?

      I have sympathy for the Palestinians, not for Hamas.

      Hamas are tools... of Netanyahu [www.cbc.ca]. I wonder how many of them know?

    • I have no sympathy for Hamas either. However, I have absolute fucking disdain for someone leveling a city and driving people away from their land.
      That is an undeniable war crime.
      I do acknowledge the difficulty of trying to combat fucking terrorists in an urban environment, but you know what? When the US marched into Iraq and Afghanistan, we didn't reduce Kabul or Baghdad to rubble.
    • Right. And given that response was entirely predictable why would Hamas attack Israeli civilians?

      Serious question, why would they do something that meant almost certain death? The answer isn't that they just want to kill Jews.

    • I have sympathy for the Palestinians

      I have limited sympathy for Palestinians. So far they have accepted Hamas rule which is widely publicised as having a jihad against the state of Israel and Hamas has support for their terrorist activities in both Palestine and a significant portion of the Arab world (who didn't even condemn Hamas's message for Muslims all over the world to indiscriminately kill jews in retaliation for ... Israel's retaliation for the Hamas airstrike 3 weeks ago).

      People are responsible for their governments, not the other wa

    • by AmiMoJo ( 196126 )

      Point of order, Hamas did not invade Israel. The areas in question are part of Palestine, they are merely occupied by Israel.

      You could flip this around and ask what Israeli settlers expected to happen when they moved into occupied territory that was actively disputed.

      None of which helps, it just perpetuates the endless cycle of violence as each side blames their actions on the other's most recent atrocity.

    • by skam240 ( 789197 )

      What I want to know is what Israeli conservatives have been thinking for the last 20 years? The whole zero peace plan while bulldozing Palestinian homes and settling their own people on the territory was never a long term strategy to anything other than another war with Hamas.

      While the actions of Hamas were truly reprehensible they were also incredibly predictable. Keep a people down for long enough while stealing their homes and eventually some of them are going to do something horrible back.

  • We were told ISP went down because it exhausted its fuel [slashdot.org]

    . How could they recover then, and how push US force Israel to help the move?

  • that sees a parallel between the Nazi destruction of the Warsaw Ghetto and the pending Israeli destruction on the Gaza Ghetto?

    • Re: (Score:2, Interesting)

      by hoofie ( 201045 )

      Gaza is not a Ghetto - the place is full of new cars and people stuck there who visited from the UK, Australia, US etc. to visit relatives.

      Any comparison to the Warsaw Ghetto is wrong and offensive.

  • Maybe Hamas can spend some of its $1 Billion to repair that infrastructure that they used to commit terrorism.
  • Now we can get back to watching the latest & worst of women, children, & old men starving & dying for our entertainment. Gonna go all Godwin on you now because it's justified & proportionate: Remember in the history books we used to study that they said the Warsaw ghetto siege during WWII was a bad thing? Well, there were people cheering it on back then too.

As long as we're going to reinvent the wheel again, we might as well try making it round this time. - Mike Dennison

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