On 7 October 2023, militants from Hamas broke through the border wall between the Gaza Strip and southern Israel initiating large-scale attacks in the region. Israel initiated retaliation by bombing the Gaza Strip and, as the de facto controller of the area, cutting off electricity and water.
As per Cloudflare Radar and IODA, the retaliation has impacted Internet access in the region (Figure 1 and 2) with multiple networks operating in Gaza showing a drop in traffic that amounts to a full Internet outage.
There are 51 Autonomous Systems, or networks, operating in Palestine, of which 15 are operating exclusively from Gaza. As per below, four networks, AS42314 (Fusion), AS199046 (Jetnet), AS44213 (NewStarMAX), and AS57704 (Speed Click) have experienced varying degrees of network interruptions in traffic volume and connectivity.
As we have stated before on Pulse, critical Internet infrastructure plays a key role in keeping people connected during crises, providing access to all kinds of crucial information and support, and helping people stay in contact with loved ones across borders. Internet infrastructure should be protected during times of conflict.