Gaza City, July 12 (RHC)-- Microsoft has reportedly closed the e-mail accounts of Palestinians living abroad, cutting off their access to online services used to contact relatives in Gaza amid the ongoing genocidal Israeli war.
Some Palestinians told the BBC on Thursday that their e-mail accounts were closed without any explanation. They added that this closure prevented them from accessing bank accounts, job offers, and the Skype application used to communicate with family members in the besieged Gaza.
“They killed my life online," said Eiad Hametto, who lives in Saudi Arabia. "They’ve suspended my e-mail account that I’ve had for nearly 20 years! It was connected to all my work.”
Hametto also said being cut off from Skype was a huge blow for his family.
Microsoft alleged that the affected users had violated its terms of service, but the Palestinians rejected that claim. “We are civilians with no political background who just wanted to check on our families,” Hametto stressed.
Salah Elsadi, who lives in the United States, said that his Microsoft Hotmail account and all associated services were deactivated in April. "I've had this Hotmail for 15 years," he said. "They banned me for no reason, saying I have violated their terms! What terms? Tell me. I've filled out about 50 forms and called them many many times."
Another Palestinian Khalid Obaied said he had paid for a package to make phone calls, but he was banned after 10 days for no reason. "That means it's only because I’m a Palestinian calling Gaza,” he added.
UNRWA says the telecommunication services in Gaza have been down for the past seven days.
Israel unleashed its brutal Gaza onslaught on October 7th after Hamas carried out its historic operation against the occupying entity in retaliation for the regime’s intensified atrocities against the Palestinian people.
According to the Gaza Health Ministry, the Tel Aviv regime has so far killed at least 38,345 Palestinians, mostly women and children, in Gaza, and injured 88,295 others.
The Israeli aggression has disrupted telecommunication services (landline, mobile, and internet) in the Gaza Strip.
