As Gaza teeters on the edge of total blackout, Palestinian officials warn that nearly three-quarters of the Strip’s telecommunications infrastructure has been deliberately destroyed by Israeli strikes, severing the lifeline of communication in a territory already reeling from war, displacement, and famine.

In Geneva, Huda Al-Wahidi, Deputy Minister of Telecommunications and Digital Economy, told the International Telecommunication Union that the cost of this destruction is not only measured in millions, but in lives. With over 580 mobile towers and vast fibre-optic networks obliterated, Gaza's digital connection to the outside world lies in ruins. She described the reality on the ground as “a digital death sentence” for a population already enduring unspeakable suffering.

With no internet, no mobile networks, and a collapsing health system, families are unable to call for help, hospitals are cut off from coordination, and journalists are silenced. Al-Wahidi criticised the international community for its failure to enforce UN Resolution 1424, which calls for the reconstruction and protection of Palestine’s telecom infrastructure.

The destruction appears far from incidental. With precision airstrikes targeting critical nodes, the digital erasure of Gaza seems part of a broader strategy of isolation and control, fuelled by U.S. support and international inaction. The result is a besieged population stripped not only of food, water, and shelter, but now even of their ability to cry out.