Gaza Experiences 3d Communications Blackout since Start of War

Fire and smoke rises from buildings following Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City, Sunday, Nov. 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Abed Khaled)
Fire and smoke rises from buildings following Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City, Sunday, Nov. 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Abed Khaled)
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Gaza Experiences 3d Communications Blackout since Start of War

Fire and smoke rises from buildings following Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City, Sunday, Nov. 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Abed Khaled)
Fire and smoke rises from buildings following Israeli airstrikes on Gaza City, Sunday, Nov. 5, 2023. (AP Photo/Abed Khaled)

The Gaza Strip on Sunday fell under its third total communications blackout since the start of the war between Israel and Hamas.
Palestinian communications company Paltel announced that all of its “communication and internet services” were down once again. Internet-access advocacy group NetBlocks.org confirmed that communications were curtailed across the besieged enclave.
Alp Toker, the group’s executive director, said that the blackout was likely to be experienced by most residents as a total or near-total loss of connectivity.
Juliette Touma, spokesperson for the Palestinian refugee agency UNRWA, told The Associated Press that the agency has lost communication with most of its team.

Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu visited Ramon Air Force base in southern Israel on Sunday and reiterated his opposition to a ceasefire in Gaza.
Israeli jets struck a house near a school at the crowded Bureij refugee camp in the central Gaza Strip on Sunday. At least 13 people were killed, hospital workers said.
Dozens of residents scrambled to remove the wounded and dead trapped under the rubble. Young men rushed carrying the wounded to ambulances near the school, which took them to Al-Aqsa Hospital. Hospital workers told The Associated Press that at least 13 people died.
The Bureij refugee camp is home to an estimated 46,000 people. Many Palestinians fleeing northern Gaza have stayed in refugee camps and schools as temporary shelters.



Türkiye Warns of Plans to Divide Syria into Four Mini-States

Two fighters from Turkish-backed factions in southern Manbij, Syria (AFP)
Two fighters from Turkish-backed factions in southern Manbij, Syria (AFP)
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Türkiye Warns of Plans to Divide Syria into Four Mini-States

Two fighters from Turkish-backed factions in southern Manbij, Syria (AFP)
Two fighters from Turkish-backed factions in southern Manbij, Syria (AFP)

Concerns are mounting in Türkiye over potential scenarios in Syria following the fall of President Bashar al-Assad’s regime.
The warnings come as clashes persist between Turkish-backed factions and the US-supported Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF) in eastern Aleppo, alongside ongoing Turkish airstrikes targeting SDF positions east of the Euphrates.
Devlet Bahçeli, leader of the Nationalist Movement Party (MHP) and ally of Türkiye’s ruling Justice and Development Party (AKP) in the People’s Alliance, has sounded the alarm over plans being drawn up for Syria ahead of US President-elect Donald Trump’s inauguration on January 20.
Bahçeli cautioned that developments in Syria could escalate quickly, emphasizing the risks of instability in the region as Türkiye presses its campaign against Kurdish-led forces it considers a threat.
Fatih Erbakan, leader of the New Welfare Party, has voiced concerns over developments in Syria, warning of a potential partition of the war-torn country into four separate states.
Erbakan speculated that plans might be underway to establish an autonomous region along Türkiye’s border for the Democratic Union Party (PYD) and its military arm, the Kurdish People's Protection Units (YPG), the largest components of the US-backed Syrian Democratic Forces (SDF).
Such a move, he cautioned, would pose a significant security challenge for Türkiye, which views the PYD and YPG as extensions of the outlawed Kurdistan Workers’ Party (PKK).
Erbakan raised alarms over reports of negotiations to partition Syria into four autonomous regions.
In a televised interview, Erbakan cited reports in US, Israeli, and French media suggesting efforts to divide Syria and establish autonomous zones, including one for Kurdish groups along Türkiye’s border.
Erbakan warned that after the destabilization of Iraq and Syria, Iran and Türkiye could be next, urging Ankara to act decisively to prevent Syria’s division and preserve its territorial integrity.