London, December 4 (RHC)-- Gaza is currently in a "near total blackout," according to London-based internet monitoring firm, Netblocks.

Netblocks said live metrics showed the Gaza Strip to be "in the midst of a near-total internet blackout," according to a post on X, formerly Twitter, shortly after 1 p.m. ET.

"The incident impacts the telecoms backbone via Israel, mirroring previous recorded outages, and will be experienced as a total loss of communications by most residents," the post said.

The last remaining major telecommunications operator in Gaza, PalTel, also provided an update on the situation shortly after 1 p.m. ET, announcing that all telecom services in the Gaza Strip have been completely cut off. 

PalTel had previously warned of disruption to the "main elements" of its network earlier on Monday, cutting off telecom services in Gaza City and the northern Gaza Strip. 

The blackout comes after what Netblocks described as days of "relatively stable service" in Gaza, brought about by the week-long truce enacted by Israel and Hamas. 

Why this matters: As Israel responded to the October 7 attacks by Hamas, its deadly airstrikes across Gaza destroyed homes, schools and hospitals in the densely populated territory. Israel cut electricity to the territory and service providers said the bombardment destroyed vital network infrastructure.

Without the ability to communicate, Palestinian civilians caught in the line of fire are unable to check on each other or call for help; emergency and medical workers can’t coordinate their responses, according to Mirna El Helbawi, the founder of Connecting Gaza, a grassroots initiative that uses virtual SIM cards to help Palestinians skirt telecommunication blackouts.

Additionally, the Israel Defense Forces said last week a new interactive map showing “evacuation zones” is meant to reduce casualties when it carries out strikes in civilian areas. But unreliable access to the internet and power makes it difficult to access.