![]() ![]() About 70 percent of the mobile network has been taken offline. The company has also developed emergency protocols to direct workers remotely from the occupied West Bank, and if severed communications make this impossible, Gazan staff are empowered to act autonomously.ĭespite all the redundancies and preparations, the sheer scale of bombings these past weeks has still crippled the network. In case the Israelis cut off electricity, its data centres in Gaza also have three layers of redundancy: generators, solar panels and batteries. While most telecom networks bury their cables 60cm (about 2ft) underground, PalTel buries its cables up to 8 metres (26ft) deep. It reads: ‘Gaza is proud and will live until the dream is realised’ A support message for the people of Gaza published by PalTel on its X account. ![]() Recurrent wars on Gaza and frequent bombing campaigns by Israel have damaged civilian infrastructure, so to brace itself for a sustained conflict like the current one, the telecoms network is built like no other. PalTel’s Gaza network was built during Israel’s siege of the enclave, which requires that each piece of equipment be approved by Israeli authorities before entering Gaza, making repairs difficult. We’re doing more protection than any other operator,” CEO Abdul Majeed Melhem told Al Jazeera. “We have faced a lot of different incidents during the previous wars. The CEO of PalTel said this is because the company has been preparing for war for “over 15 years”, embedding emergency contingencies in its Gaza infrastructure at every step. Despite the lack of power and the constant bombing, Gaza’s telecoms network stayed operational for almost six weeks. On the first day of its offensive on Gaza on October 7, Israel cut electricity to the territory. Videos of desperate family members and civil defence scrabbling through the rubble of bombed-out buildings to rescue civilians trapped underneath have inspired shock and horror the world over. More than 13,000 Palestinians have been killed by Israeli attacks on Gaza since October 7. Humanitarian workers and journalists have said the operation of communication networks in Gaza is essential for rescue services and for documenting the reality of conditions on the ground to the outside world. Just 15 minutes later, Samir and his brother were killed in an Israeli air raid on their building. Samir*, one of the staff members killed, had spent 10 hours shuttling fuel between data towers before returning home. An engineer working on the Sheikh Radwan data centre in Gaza City two weeks ago ![]() At least five PalTel staff members in Gaza have been killed in Israeli attacks while many other staff members have lost family members, including wives and children. The cost of keeping Gaza connected has been high. … I do this every day,” he said.Īhmad’s tale has become almost routine among the 750 PalTel staff in Gaza who, despite living through bombing, displacement and death, risk life and limb to keep the telecoms network running. “Thank God my family was OK and I lived to see another day. He decided to stay in the building until dawn, slipping out around the freshly fallen debris to go home during a lull in Israeli bombing. By 2am, he had repaired the generator, allowing the telecommunications network to keep operating. We are no better nor less important than medical staff – a phone call can save lives,” Ahmad said. “I told the driver that if I could not restore the generator, people like him wouldn’t be able to reach injured civilians. Keep reading list of 4 items list 1 of 4 Photos: West Bank family sees no hope of justice in settler killings list 2 of 4 Israeli captives’ families angry after meeting with Netanyahu list 3 of 4 ‘Anti-Zionism is antisemitism,’ US House asserts in ‘dangerous’ resolution list 4 of 4 ‘Nothing can justify this’: Gaza crisis deepens as Israel ramps up attacks end of list ![]()
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