Gaza Connectivity: Will Israel stop using communication blackouts as a weapon of war?
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00:00 Access to the Internet is considered a basic human right.
00:05 It keeps us informed, entertained, allows us to connect with each other and the world.
00:10 And that connection is especially important during times of war.
00:14 I'm Annelies Borges and this is The Stream.
00:25 We don't have Internet, people can't call the ambulance and the bombing is all around us.
00:30 Israel's war on Gaza has taken on a multitude of shapes.
00:49 The bombing and the raids are only part of the story.
00:52 Another, less talked about weapon is connectivity, or lack thereof.
00:57 Israel controls most of the electricity as well as the telecommunications and Internet access in Gaza.
01:03 First, it turned off power lines, which made hospitals and even sewage plants stop working.
01:10 Later, Internet blackouts were registered across the Strip, which made a dire situation even worse.
01:18 We managed to connect with one resident, Afaf Awnajar, who is in the south of Gaza Strip.
01:25 Afaf, thank you so much for joining us here on The Stream today.
01:29 Can I start by asking you, after over a month of chaos and destruction all around you, just how are you doing?
01:38 I have just been texting some of my friends on Instagram and WhatsApp,
01:44 my friends who are not in the Gaza Strip at the moment.
01:47 Telling them that I almost forgot who I am, and I almost forgot how my life used to be before the aggression on the Gaza Strip started.
01:57 I was just telling them that I don't want to reach to the point where I'm used to what's happening,
02:05 where I wake up every day with the thought that, oh, this is never going to end.
02:14 I think that I've been trying my best to stay well put together and keep my strength and my energy and everything.
02:24 But today, especially today, after everything that has been happening for about a month now, more than a month now,
02:31 and after seeing multiple members of my family getting killed in the airstrikes, and after losing so many friends,
02:41 I can really say that I'm about to lose it, honestly.
02:44 You said you've been messaging friends outside of Gaza. How important is it to keep that connection alive right now?
02:54 Staying connected is crucial. It's very important.
02:58 When the connection was cut off from the Gaza Strip, it was cut off twice completely, let alone the fact that it's very weak right now.
03:11 But when it was cut off completely, I remember that I felt like I was in an open-air grave.
03:19 I swear to God, it almost felt like someone has dug up a grave for me and told me to just stay there.
03:27 I felt like my hands were tied, my mouth was shut, and that there's nothing I can do anymore.
03:34 And I remember that after the internet came back, that I read news that ambulances and firefighters were finding people, limbs, on the streets that they couldn't get to,
03:51 because no one was able to call them to begin with. No one was able to call the ambulances, the hospitals, tell them there is an attack in this specific area,
04:00 please come and pick up the people who died and pick up the injuries. No one was able to do that.
04:05 Afaf, would you say this is perhaps another tool of war?
04:10 Definitely. They are trying to break the spirits of the Palestinians up more.
04:18 They saw that all of the bombing and all of the killing and all of the destruction still kept the Palestinian people's faith.
04:25 Even after all of that, they are looking now for other ways, first of which was cutting off the connection completely of the Palestinians in Gaza.
04:36 Then they went on to bombing the solar panels that are on top of hospitals, bakeries, houses, and so much more,
04:44 so that people don't even have any electricity anymore whatsoever.
04:48 And then they started targeting water wells, they started targeting bakeries, they started targeting shops.
04:54 They are trying to do anything they possibly can, not only to cause as much destruction as possible and as much massacres as possible,
05:04 but to also break up the spirits of the Palestinians who are still in their homes,
05:09 resisting the ethnic cleansing and resisting the displacement of Palestinians of the Gaza Strip.
05:15 Afaf al-Najjar, thank you so, so much for taking the time to speak to us here on the stream.
05:20 Let's now bring two more voices, two very important voices into this conversation.
05:25 Aup Toker is the executive director of NetBlocks, a cybersecurity monitoring group.
05:31 He's joining us today from Istanbul.
05:34 And Mirna El-Hawabi, she's a journalist and author who initiated Connecting Gaza to Collect and Send e-SIMS to People.
05:44 She's joining us from Cairo. Thank you both so much for being here.
05:48 Mirna, we will talk about the incredible movement you started in just a moment.
05:53 But Aup, if I can start with you, your organization has been monitoring these blackouts in Gaza.
05:58 And on October 27th, you said that you observed a large single, the largest single Internet disruption in Gaza since the war started.
06:08 And we have a tweet that you put out, a total or near blackout of the Internet service.
06:15 Can you help us understand the graphic that you guys tweeted that day?
06:21 What exactly are we seeing over here?
06:27 Yeah, that's right. On the 27th, we tracked a very significant, a major disruption to connectivity across the Gaza Strip.
06:35 Now, this was unprecedented in terms of what we've monitored both during this conflict and before.
06:41 If you take a look at the chart, you can see the observable connectivity levels.
06:46 So, what these represent are really an outside analysis in real time of connectivity in each of those regions.
06:54 And you can see that, you know, connectivity there at the beginning prior to the 7th is fairly stable.
07:00 And then you see over time at the very start of this conflict, you see a decline in connectivity.
07:06 Now, we know that that decline is attributed to a couple of reasons, one of them being the missile strikes from Israel.
07:14 And the other being the population flight as people leave the territory.
07:19 So, you have those two factors. But then on the 27th, you can see a very significant, a major disruption as connectivity just blacks out.
07:27 And this is linked with a major military operation by Israel that coincides with that time.
07:35 So, we know that these disruptions have been implemented during those times for a duration of some 36 hours between the 27th and the 29th of October.
07:45 This had a very major impact on people's ability to communicate.
07:49 And it's really limited the world's ability to understand also what's going on within the territory.
07:53 So, obviously, a huge impact. And I know you guys have also observed other blackouts since then.
08:01 Yeah, that's right. So, this wasn't an isolated incident.
08:05 As we continue to monitor, we tracked a further one of these disruptions on 1 November, on the 1st of November, just a few days later,
08:14 which lasted some nine and a half hours or so.
08:18 And in terms of the mechanism that was deployed there was very similar, was identical to what happened on the 27th.
08:25 So, we now know by the 1st of November that the same thing is happening, exact same thing is happening again a second time.
08:31 And we can tell from the fingerprint of this telemetry that it's impacted the exact same exchanges, the same network,
08:37 and it's having the same effect in terms of a total or near total blackout for the residents of the Gaza Strip.
08:44 And then again on the 5th of November, we see the same thing happens for a third time, this time for 15 hours.
08:52 So, you know that we have these three major blackouts in effect.
08:56 And Alpo, I mean, the fact that we see these lines kind of coming back up again, it means that obviously some source of connectivity was restored after these blackouts.
09:09 Am I understanding this correctly? Because if this was damage to the infrastructure, then that's it, the internet is gone and it's gone forever.
09:18 But the fact that it comes back, does it suggest that this is some kind of, I don't know, a technical trigger is behind these blackouts?
09:29 Right. So, we need to take a look at the main mechanisms of disruptions to understand what's going on here.
09:35 I mean, there's really three main causes of what's the disruptions.
09:39 And we have the power outages, we have the kinetic impacts of the war, of the fighting.
09:45 Then we also have Israel's ability to connect or disconnect Gaza Strip at will.
09:52 This is because Gaza relies on Israeli connectivity as an upstream, much as it relies on Israeli power and on Israeli resources due to the geography of the situation.
10:05 So, there are many hallmarks, many indicators here that these have been technical mechanisms used to disrupt connectivity.
10:12 And what we know for certain is that the same thing has happened in each of these three incidents.
10:17 So, in terms of a reason for this, if it had been damaged infrastructure, it simply wouldn't have been possible to get repaired.
10:24 And statements from the providers also say that they don't know, they didn't actually apply fixes that brought back the connectivity.
10:30 So, there are very strong indicators that this connectivity has been disrupted from the outside with intent.
10:36 I mean, you mentioned impact, and if I can get Mirna on this, we talked about, obviously, the emotional toll of just feeling completely cut off from the world.
10:49 But that has also very practical implications.
10:52 And I imagine you have been hearing about these implications in your work as well, Mirna.
10:57 Of course, being isolated and being drowning in uncertainty of not being able to communicate with the outside world or with your family members or your loved ones or even the hospitals and the ambulances is, for me, it's outrageous and definitely one of the worst crimes committed in Gaza.
11:22 I've been connecting people since October 28th or 29th.
11:30 We have connected more than 20,000.
11:37 And we are fighting time to connect more people since yesterday.
11:55 And because there is a huge possibility for the communication and the Internet to go for a total blackout due to lack of fuel in Gaza.
12:04 And many network providers like Oredo and Jawel, the Palestinians network providers, have published yesterday official statements on their social media stating that they are going to be totally cut off from providing the communication and the Internet access due to the lack of fuel.
12:28 So you started this alone, but you now have a team, I believe you have several people with you so you can keep this service operating 24 hours a day.
12:40 Yes, we're a team of 11 people so far, because it's hard to grow your team when it comes to protection of privacy of the donors details and also being in direct contact with people in Gaza to protect their safety.
12:59 So I have to be sure 200% of each and every member in my team.
13:06 And how did this idea, the idea of connecting Gaza, this movement you started, how did it come about?
13:16 Actually, I was in trials to connect the Palestinian Red Crescent in coordination with the Egyptian Red Crescent with Starlink, the company of Elon Musk, because he tweeted that he can provide Internet access through his company to the official aid organization in Gaza.
13:38 But we failed to fill the request. And later on, Elon Musk tweeted to one of the leaders in the occupation army that he will not provide Internet access without the permission of USA and Israel, which made me so angry.
13:57 And I was updating my followers step by step through the requests of Starlink. And one of my followers, she's Egyptian Lebanese, she suggested, what do you think of ISIMs? Could it work? And I was like, whoa, maybe we can.
14:14 So I told her to send me two ISIMs as trials. And I kept scrolling to find any people from Gaza who are connected even with like weak connections so we can try on the first two ISIMs.
14:31 These two people are journalists, Ahmed from Gaza and Hind Quderi. And I've sent them the ISIMs and it worked successfully. And we provided them with more ISIMs to provide to their teams and people around them.
14:46 And then I posted a spontaneous call for ISIMs donations on my personal account. And thousands of people around the world kept sending me donations of QR codes and ISIMs donations.
15:05 So I had to create an email address especially for receiving the donated ISIMs.
15:15 And then the community just grew and grew. Can I ask you very briefly, ISIMs are a relatively new technology. Can you explain in just a few words how do they work?
15:28 So an ISIM is like a non-physical SIM card that has an extension of your internet package and calls package through your number.
15:44 So when a person in Europe or USA or around the world buys an ISIM, he buys an extension to his internet package that can be used for roaming.
15:58 Interesting. Fascinating. I imagine that you are going through quite a lot as you said. You barely have time to sleep. You have to bring other people in. I would like to thank both of you very much for joining us today.
16:12 Alp and Mirna for your time. Mirna, because you are so busy, we are going to let you go and we wish you best of luck. Alp, you too of course.
16:21 And I would like to now turn to another guest, a very important guest today as well to help us put this puzzle together.
16:31 Dorham Abuselim, you are joining us from DC. He is a writer and a communication specialist. And you have family inside Gaza right now.
16:44 Can you tell us about how you are getting by and how are you managing to connect with your father and your mother in Gaza?
16:54 It's been very, very difficult. Unfortunately, since the Israeli aggression has started against the Gaza Strip, I've only managed to hear the voice of my parents and for them to hear my voice maybe three to four times, which to me is unbearable.
17:10 Someone has always been in touch with his family, calling my mother and my father almost on a daily basis. So the situation has been very, very difficult precisely because of the things that both speakers earlier have mentioned.
17:26 Not only is it just a question of the Internet connectivity and our inability to reach our families, for those of us who are abroad via apps like WhatsApp, Messenger or even text messaging over data plans, but also landlines and mobile lines have been severely impacted by this to the point where it's very, very difficult to make these kind of calls.
17:48 Can you tell us a little bit about your mom and your dad? We're seeing them in some photos right now.
17:56 Right. You know, my mother and father are both in the Gaza Strip with two of my siblings. My mom is in her late 60s and she's a blind woman.
18:03 My father is 80 years old and he is paralyzed. I'm along with them, two of my siblings, a younger sister and an older brother in the Gaza Strip.
18:11 And currently in our household, we are sheltering three more families that have been forcibly displaced from Gaza City toward southern cities.
18:20 We are based in Deir el-Balakh, which is right in the middle of the Gaza Strip. The situation for the family that's ahead is incredibly unbearable and inhumane and undignified.
18:30 You know, the lack of water, the lack of electricity, the lack of food. And with my parents specifically, you know, as elderly people who live with disabilities and chronic conditions,
18:41 unfortunately, also the lack of medication is quite threatening to their livelihood and their well-being.
18:46 So needless to say, I mean, as it goes for everyone in the Gaza Strip, I mean, the situation could be more so compounded for those living with disabilities.
18:55 But it really is just quite horrific. And for someone like me at a distance, but who has also endured and was there during, for example, the 2014 aggression of the Israeli occupation against the Gaza Strip,
19:07 I am just in horror and in absolute pain day in and day out thinking of what they are doing, even at a distance.
19:15 And, you know, for me, the question of connectivity remains very, very critical.
19:20 I've heard Mirna talk about eSIMs, which I think have been very, very useful. I have managed to get eSIMs to my sister in the Gaza Strip.
19:29 Although I must say, I mean, even installing those is quite an arduous exercise. It's quite difficult.
19:35 Without a connection to begin with, installing them can be difficult. And even though it worked for some time, it didn't work necessarily all the time.
19:43 So it really is just a bit of a hit and miss so far. And it's all by product, I believe, you know, of how the Israeli control of the Gaza Strip is manifesting itself.
19:57 It's not just a question of the occupation and the blockade and all of the policies that we see in place,
20:02 but also there is such a thing as a digital occupation of all Palestinian territories.
20:07 And these are technologies of occupation and enclosure, because as Alp had mentioned earlier, in the Gaza Strip specifically,
20:14 there is no control of the information and communications infrastructure whatsoever.
20:20 Israel completely controls that at will, even its development, even its management and all these things.
20:29 So it really is up to these reoccupation authorities how the connectivity is available or not available in the Gaza Strip.
20:37 And what we've seen with this particular situation, you know, with all of these blackouts that have happened, isn't something new.
20:45 These have been tactics that have been used in prior offenses that were committed against the Gaza Strip.
20:51 So it's quite, you know, predictable in a sense, but it also confirms to us that these are practices that are pursued as a matter of intent and policy.
21:01 And as we all know, everything that goes on on the ground is governed by international law and the laws of war, regulations of war.
21:07 So where there is policy and intent, you could establish violations and crimes.
21:12 And of course, according to the UN, Internet access is a human right. And when that was interrupted in Gaza, nobody was quite sure what was actually happening.
21:23 So this was one of the only way residents got information, a message that replaced the traditional call to prayer. Take a look.
21:34 [Protesters chanting]
21:52 Dorham, how powerful of a tool of war would you say this is?
21:58 It's an incredibly powerful tool for the Israeli occupation authorities to be able to really manage the way people are communicating or even control it altogether.
22:10 As you've seen, you know, people on the ground have tried to find alternatives in powerful ways.
22:15 Yet at the end of the day, the fact that the Israeli occupation authorities have that power to begin with is truly telling.
22:22 And so far that you are truly controlling whether people are going to be saved from under the rubble, for example.
22:29 And I'll share with you a very quick story. I'm here based in the United States on a WhatsApp group with some friends who are from the Gaza Strip, who are based here in the United States.
22:38 One of them, their family's home, a relative of their family's home was bombed during the Israeli assault so far on the Gaza Strip.
22:46 And he was texting our group of people here in the U.S. because we are spread out from different towns in the Gaza Strip originally,
22:55 asking us if we could spread the word about what happened to his family's relative home,
23:02 because they could not there spread the word about finding rescue missions to rescue people from underneath the rubble.
23:08 So, I mean, this goes to show the extent to which Israel's ability to control the way people communicate is actually very, very powerful and very, very impactful in a very negative way regarding people in the Gaza Strip.
23:21 So you're not necessarily able to communicate about developments. You're not necessarily able to communicate about saving people's lives.
23:28 You're not necessarily able to communicate about where it might be safe or where it might not be safe for people.
23:34 And all of these details. So it really is quite difficult to fathom.
23:39 Absolutely. I'm so sorry to interrupt, but we have a very limited amount of time left, less than a minute.
23:45 Can I ask you if you have a message, I don't know, to your family, to the international community?
23:51 You can deliver that message through us right now.
23:55 You know, I think first and foremost, in everyone's mind, it is imperative on everyone to ensure that safety and the livelihood and the well-being of Palestinians everywhere, certainly in the Gaza Strip.
24:08 I know that there is a global consensus around a call for a ceasefire, even though certain governments have failed to represent the calls of their own people in that respect.
24:20 We, you know, I remain hopeful and I pray for my family that they remain safe along with everyone else.
24:27 And where connectivity is concerned, as you've mentioned, it is a matter of human rights, as has been mentioned and endorsed by the United Nations.
24:36 So when you look at this particular situation, always remember that any violation of it, it could very well be a tent amount to war crimes committed by the Israeli occupation.
24:46 Dorhan, thank you so, so much for joining us, especially in this difficult time.
24:51 And special thanks to Mirna, Alp and of course Afaf.
24:55 And thank you for watching.
24:57 Don't forget that if you have a comment about our show, you can talk to us on social media.
25:01 If you have an idea or a topic that you'd like to flag for us, we welcome your suggestions.
25:06 Anytime you can use the hashtag or the handle AJStream and we will look into it.
25:11 Take care and I'll see you soon.
25:13 [Music]