GAZA CITY, Palestine

Palestinian telecommunications company, Paltel, announced Saturday the death of two staffers who were working to repair the communication network that was damaged in a direct Israeli attack on the southern Gaza Strip. 

“Two of our colleagues were killed while working to repair the communication network in Khan Yunis, where the company's vehicle was directly targeted with a shell,” said the company.

It condemned the “attack and aggression against the Palestinian people in the strip.”

Paltel noted that since the start of the Israeli war on the enclave, the number of fatalities among its teams has risen to 13. 

As of 1750 GMT, Israeli authorities have not commented on the claims by Paltel.

Paltel is the largest provider of cellular and internet communication services in the Gaza Strip and the exclusive provider of fixed communication services.

Communication and internet services were disrupted Friday in most parts of the region, marking the ninth outage since Oct. 7.

“We regret to announce that all telecom services in the Gaza Strip have been lost due to the ongoing aggression. Gaza is blacked out again,” the company said in a statement.

Ooredoo Palestine, one of the mobile network operators, said, “With the continued aggression on the Gaza Strip, the main feed lines for communication and internet companies were once again damaged, leading to a complete halt of our services in the south and central Gaza Strip.”​​​​​​​ 

Communication services for Ooredoo Palestine remained intermittent in northern Gaza.

*Writing by Rania Abu Shamala