Telecommunications ‘completely dead’ across Gaza as Egypt investigates Taba and Nuweiba blasts

Telecommunications and internet have gone completely dead in all of the Gaza Strip as the Israeli onslaught on the enclave continues for the 21st day. The death toll of the ongoing assault has risen up to 7,326 people, as per the latest Palestinian Health Ministry data, including 298 people killed in the past few hours after they were displaced to the so-called “safe area” designated by Israel in the south of Gaza.

In Egypt, a drone and an explosion hit two Egyptian towns in South Sinai in the early hours of Friday, leaving six wounded, according to the Health Ministry. Meanwhile, police forces in Cairo dispersed pro-Palestinian demonstrators and arrested some of them, according to eyewitnesses. 

The drone hit the vicinity of the central hospital in Taba, while the other explosion occurred near the power station in Nuweiba — both towns are located in Sinai, but are distant enough from Israel’s onslaught in the Gaza Strip.

The Armed Forces’ statement said an “unidentified drone,” hit the dormitory of the Taba Central Hospital management, as well as the town’s ambulance service headquarters at around 2 am. The statement, which came out hours later, said that six people were lightly wounded in the incident, which “a specialized committee from the relevant authorities” is currently investigating.

Al-Qahera News quoted another senior official source as saying that once the origin of the rocket is identified, “all options are on the table” for how to deal with the situation, adding that “Egypt reserves the right to respond.”

The six people who had been wounded were treated at Taba Central Hospital, from which four were later discharged, the Health Ministry said.

Although the Nuweiba explosion occurred three hours before, there is no mention of the incident in the Armed Forces’ statement.

Two eyewitnesses in Nuweiba told Mada Masr they saw a warplane pass by followed by the sound of a nearby explosion around 8 am in an empty plot of land next to the town’s power station. The explosion caused no injuries. After that, security forces strengthened their presence in the area and Egyptian fighter jets were seen flying over.

Nuweiba is located on South Sinai’s eastern coast, approximately 73 km south of Taba. Both towns are separated from the Gaza Srip by over 200 km. Taba is around 10 km away from the Israeli city of Eilat.

Israel’s occupation army spokesperson said the two incidents in Egypt were caused by “an aerial threat that was detected in the Red Sea region,” adding that Israel is working with Egypt and the United States to confront these threats.

The incident came days after an Israeli tank fired a shell that hit an Egyptian border watchtower south of Rafah on October 22, wounding nine people in what both sides at the time labeled as a “mistake.”

Before this, the Rafah border crossing between Egypt and Gaza was hit by Israeli strikes on four different occasions, with the first occurring on October 9 and the most recent on the 16th, wounding at least four people, according to Foreign Minister Sameh Shoukry. 

In Cairo, a heavy presence of security forces prevented demonstrations from taking place today at Al-Azhar Mosque, which has been the site of many protests in solidarity with Gaza over the past weeks.

According to eyewitnesses, security forces prevented any attempts to protest at the mosque, dispersing small gatherings and arresting some protesters who tried to chant.

Lawyer Khaled Ali posted today a list of 45 people who have been detained by the Supreme State Security Prosecution throughout the week on the backdrop of joining pro-Palestinian demonstrations held on October 20 in Cairo and Alexandria. A press conference organized by the Popular Campaign to Support the Palestinian Cause to declare solidarity with the detainees was canceled on Thursday amid fears of further arrests.

In Gaza, the Israeli onslaught continues for the 21st day, bringing the death toll among Palestinains up to 7,326 and wounding nearly 19,000, according to data from the Palestinian Health Ministry.

The ministry published a report listing the names of all Palestinians killed since the start of the offensive, a day after US President Joe Biden questioned the veracity of Palestinian officials’ death count.

The report documents the full names, ID numbers and ages of 6,747 of those killed by Israel, along with over 500 more whose identities remain unknown. The list included the data of 2,665 children, killed at a daily rate of more than 200 children. 

The assaults on October 17, 23 and 24 saw the largest numbers of casualties per day, with last Tuesday, in which 756 people were killed, being the deadliest so far.

The report stressed that the listed names do not include those still missing under the rubble, those buried without being brought to a hospital, and those whom medical personnel were unable to register their data, as the document relied on a system in which hospitals add the victims’ data to the “Martyrs’ Registry Database.”

Meanwhile, the collapse of the humanitarian situation within the Gaza Strip continues to be exacerbated by the fact that only very limited amounts of aid have been allowed into the enclave, in what the UN Relief and Works Agency for Palestine Refugees (UNRWA) Commissioner-General Philippe Lazzarini described yesterday as “an underestimation of the needs of the Gaza Strip” and “not making any difference.” 

Lazzarini stressed the necessity of accelerating the entry of fuel, as UNRWA began to have to pick between operating bakeries, hospitals, or other facilities that depend on fuel.

For his part, the Palestinian Health Ministry spokesperson said that there are no hospitals left in the strip’s health system still capable of providing medical services.

The ministry renewed its call on Egypt to reopen the Rafah border crossing, bring in medical aid, fuel and specialized medical teams, as well as allow the wounded and sick into Egypt to receive health care.

Informed sources quoted by al-Qahera News denied reports that facilities are being prepared on the border areas with Gaza to receive the wounded, two days after al-Arabiya reported that a field hospital is being established in Sheikh Zuwayed in North Sinai “for the possibility of allowing the wounded in from the strip.”

The Municipality of Gaza announced, a short while ago, that it received a threat from the Israeli military to bomb the historical municipal headquarters in Palestine Square. The municipality confirmed that the building is more than 200 years old and provides citizens with civil services.