Ramallah - Saba:
Huda Al-Wahidi, Deputy Minister of Telecommunications and Digital Economy in Palestine, said that the Israeli aggression on the Gaza Strip caused widespread damage to the telecommunications sector, destroying approximately 74% of its assets.
According to the Sanad News Agency on Monday, Al-Wahidi stated in a speech during the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) Board of Directors meeting in Geneva that direct losses to the telecommunications sector in Gaza are estimated at $164 million, as a result of the destruction of 580 cellular towers and major fiber networks.
According to a statement by the Ministry of Telecommunications, the expected economic losses over the next five years are estimated at $736 million.
Al-Wahidi warned of the continued deterioration of the digital infrastructure in Gaza, stressing that the Strip is experiencing an "unprecedented crisis" that has caused widespread disruption to telecommunications services.
She criticized the absence of any practical steps to implement UN Resolution 1424 (2014), which relates to the reconstruction of the Palestinian telecommunications sector.
She called on the ITU Council to develop an urgent implementation plan to implement the resolution. Calling for the protection of the digital infrastructure from Israeli targeting, which has almost completely destroyed the infrastructure in the Gaza Strip.
In the West Bank, Al-Wahidi indicated that Israeli military incursions and closures have caused losses estimated at $215.4 million.
She added, "In addition to the illegal expansion of Israeli networks, which has disrupted Palestinian development and expansion projects."
Since October 7, 2023, Palestinian telecommunications companies have repeatedly announced widespread service outages in the Gaza Strip due to shelling and fuel shortages.