Iranians Are Left with No Internet Access Again
The group said on X that the disconnect came after 'a brief period when residents could exchange messages with the outside world.'
A nationwide internet shutdown has been in place for several days, isolating Iranians.
Government officials had disconnected phone and web services earlier in the week for the more than 90 million people who live in Iran, citing cybersecurity threats from Israel. But many Iranians and activists see it as another example of state information control and targeted internet shutdowns the country has deployed during periods of protests and unrest.
The shutdown left civilians unaware of when and where Israel would strike next and if their family or friends were among the victims.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Arab News
26 minutes ago
- Arab News
UN rights office says Israeli settlement plan breaks international law
The UN human rights office said on Friday an Israeli plan to build to build thousands of new homes between an Israeli settlement in the West Bank and near East Jerusalem was illegal under international law, and would put nearby Palestinians at risk of forced eviction, which it described as a war far-right Finance Minister Bezalel Smotrich on Thursday vowed to press on a long-delayed settlement project, saying the move would 'bury' the idea of a Palestinian UN rights office spokesperson said the plan would break the West Bank into isolated enclaves and that it was 'a war crime for an occupying power to transfer its own civilian population into the territory it occupies.'About 700,000 Israeli settlers live among 2.7 million Palestinians in the West Bank and East Jerusalem. Israel annexed East Jerusalem in 1980, a move not recognized by most countries, but has not formally extended sovereignty over the West world powers say settlement expansion erodes the viability of a two-state solution by breaking up territory the Palestinians seek as part of a future independent two-state plan envisages a Palestinian state in East Jerusalem, the West Bank and Gaza, existing side by side with Israel, which captured all three territories in the 1967 Middle East cites historical and biblical ties to the area and says the settlements provide strategic depth and security and that the West Bank is 'disputed' not 'occupied.'
Al Arabiya
2 hours ago
- Al Arabiya
Israeli far-right minister confronts prominent Palestinian detainee
Israel's far-right national security minister Itamar Ben Gvir published a video on Friday in which he confronts the most high-profile Palestinian detainee in Israeli custody in his prison cell. Marwan Barghouti, a leading member of the Palestinian Fatah party, has spent more than 20 years behind bars after being sentenced for his role in anti-Israeli attacks in the early 2000s. In the clip published by Ben Gvir on X, the minister and two other individuals, including a prison guard, surround Barghouti in a corner of his cell. 'You will not defeat us. Whoever harms the people of Israel, whoever kills children, whoever kills women... we will erase them,' Ben Gvir says in Hebrew. Barghouti tries to respond but is interrupted by Ben Gvir, who says: 'No, you know this. And it's been the case throughout history.' The video does not specify where Barghouti is currently being held. Contacted by AFP, sources close to Ben Gvir said the meeting took place 'by chance' in Ganot prison in southern Israel during an inspection visit by the minister, but they would not say when the footage was filmed. 'This morning I read that various 'senior officials' in the Palestinian Authority didn't quite like what I said to arch-terrorist Marwan Barghouti -- may his name be erased,' Ben Gvir said in the post accompanying the video on Friday morning. 'So I will repeat it again and again, without apology: whoever messes with the people of Israel, whoever murders our children, whoever murders our women -- we will wipe them out. With God's help.' Barghouti, who is now in his sixties, was arrested in 2002 by Israel and sentenced to life in 2004 on murder charges. Israel considers him a 'terrorist' and convicted him over his role in the second intifada, or uprising, from 2000-2005. He often tops opinion polls of popular Palestinian leaders and is sometimes described by his supporters as the 'Palestinian Mandela.' In a statement released by the official Palestinian news agency Wafa, the Palestinian Authority's foreign ministry denounced 'an unprecedented provocation' and described the confrontation as 'organized state terrorism.'
Saudi Gazette
3 hours ago
- Saudi Gazette
Hezbollah refuses to hand over its weapons to Lebanese government Hezbollah's Naim Qassem rejected Lebanon's decision to disarm the Iran-backed militant group, calling it a US-Israeli order
BEIRUT — Hezbollah leader Naim Qassem threatened open confrontation on Friday if Lebanon's government proceeds with plans to disarm the militant group, calling the cabinet decision an implementation of "US-Israeli orders." The Lebanese Council of Ministers approved a decision last week requiring the army to urgently develop a disarmament plan and implement it before year-end, marking the most severe challenge to Hezbollah since the civil war ended in 1990. "The decision is dangerous and exposes the country to a major crisis," Qassem said during a televised speech in Baalbek. "It strips the resistance and Lebanon of defensive weapons during aggression." Qassem vowed Hezbollah would not surrender its weapons and warned of armed conflict, if not outright war. "The party will fight a (historic) battle if necessary in the face of this Israeli-US project, whatever the cost," he said. "There will be no life in Lebanon if the government tries to confront the party." The Hezbollah secretary-general laid the blame on the government in Beirut, saying it "bears full responsibility for any internal explosion and any destruction of Lebanon." Qassem rejected the idea of protests at this time "because there is room for dialogue with the government," but warned demonstrations could escalate if deemed necessary. "This is our land together, our homeland together, we live together, or there is no life for Lebanon," he said in a direct warning to authorities. Qassem also thanked Iran for supporting Hezbollah "with money, weapons, capabilities, and media and political positions." The Tehran-backed militant group remains the only faction that retained its military arsenal after Lebanon's 1975-1990 civil war. However, it has been significantly weakened as a consequence of its most recent conflict with Israel. Hezbollah first struck Israel in October 2023 after the breakout of the Israel-Hamas war in Gaza, leading to Israeli airstrikes across southern Lebanon and Beirut's suburbs and a limited ground incursion. The fighting intensified last September after Israel remotely detonated thousands of pagers and walkie-talkies used by Hezbollah members and killing Qassem's predecessor Hassan Nasrallah in an airstrike. Israel and Hezbollah agreed to a ceasefire in November 2024, mediated by the US and France. — Euronews
