Update 7:45 EST - So far, a single citizen journalist in Gaza who has somehow been able to get satellite coverage confirms that it is entirely black in Gaza, though nothing else to report.

Update 7:51 - One fact has been established, it appears: all communications have been cut. As for the rest, all I can get are rumors at this point concerning what is occurring. Some mentions of military movement, but I cannot confirm or verify this AT ALL , those reports were from earlier this morning -- so far the one citizen journalist in Gaza who seems to have outside contact doesn't hear anything.

Update 7:55 - Apparently, this is now in it's eighth hour. It took nearly seven before this became mainstream news. Landlines within Gaza appear to be working on-and-off, though there is a blackout to the outside world. Nobody can contact those they know within Gaza.

Update 7:59 - Andy Carvin, NPR's senior strategist, confirms that a Twitter proximity search shows virtually no activity in Gaza. The blackout is about all we can confirm at this point.

Update 8:07 - So far reports seem to be that there is calm, though there were reports of minor military incursions into Gaza this morning. If you want to follow the trending topic on Twitter, use the hashtag #gazablackout -- It is total confusion as to what is happening right now.

Update 8:09 - Electricity in Gaza appears to be working, though all external communications have been down for 8 hours, including cell service, internet and external landline connections. No Israeli news sources are reporting this yet.

Update 8:17 - I find it astonishing that this has been going on for 8 hours, and yet nothing reported anywhere in mainstream U.S., U.K. or Israeli presses. Of course, London riots are a big story.

Update 8:20 - Israeli journalist is getting no confirmation from IDF spokesperson on nature of what happened, or is happening.

Update 8:23 - The one person Tweeting from east of Gaza City does not hear any drones, helicopters – the sounds you listen for when you're worried. So far, things are quiet. And dark.

Update 8:26 - As Simone Daud points out, the apparent cut of lines happened at Nahal Oz, just outside (or on) the Gaza border. But this report has yet to be confirmed by multiple outlets, so far as I can tell.

Update 8:28 - Regardless of what caused this, many are noting how problematic it is that all communications to Gaza can be cut in this way, accidental or not. A systematic infrastructure change must take place in the future. This is clear.

Update 8:39 - I found the below text (translated from Arabic to English) just posted on a forum. It doesn't state confirmation of the cause, but let us hope this is indeed correct:

Cut off all forms of terrestrial and cellular communications and internet connection in the Gaza Strip since the Tuesday evening, the Palestinian telecommunications company attributed this imbalance to a technical failure. According to Citizens from different parts of the sector that all forms of telecommunications cut off completely, while the sources pointed out that the Palestinian telecommunications company holidays hit the main provider of telecommunications in the sector since the ninth hour and a half on Tuesday night. The telecommunications company confirmed that a temporary interruption of communications and was due to technical failure and not for any other reason, is likely to fix bugs as soon as possible. While others said that the Israeli bulldozers cut cable caused nutritious Communications of the Gaza Strip near the Nahal Oz, but he could not confirm that.

Update 8:48 - We are at a state here where I cannot get firm confirmation on anything other than the state of the blackout. As the forum post embedded above states, and Simone Daud writes in the comments, this is hopefully a telecommunications accident, possibly caused by construction by Israeli bulldozers just outside of Gaza. That last statement has yet to be confirmed by any news outlet other than Maan. [NOTE: Al Jazeera stream is now acknowledging the blackout. Nothing more.]

Let us hope that these indications show this is nothing more than a long, serious but unintentional telecommunications blackout. I think people should refrain from recommending further at this point. I will write more when something is confirmed.

If you find something credible, please post in the comments.

Update 10:13 - Al Jazeera English is confirming the blackouts, and according to Ma'an, a technician told the outlet that the main phone company was aware of the outage problem, but offered no reason for it.

Many witnesses saw Israeli bulldozers working just outside of Gaza before the outage happened, which is where the connection between the two is being made. Unbelievably, though, there is still nothing more. We're now in the 10th hour of this blackout.

Update 11:38 - Neither Al Jazeera English nor the English editor for Ma'an can confirm exactly why this is still going on. Very frustrating, particularly after 11 hours. As noted above, we are assuming that this is an accidental outage at this stage. And that's good news, if such ends up (finally) being confirmed. Al Jazeera Stream is now asking for those who know anyone in Gaza to contact them. Fucking clueless as well. Please stop recommending. Thank you.

Update 9:53 am - Internet and phone service is now back up in Gaza, after 16 hours of being offline. The cause still has not been confirmed. It seems the initial proposition was correct: severing of the lines by Israeli bulldozers many meters beneath the surface. My assumption is that this is accidental, though that has yet to be confirmed. The IDF is investigating.

Regarding criticism of this diary, I'd like to offer what I wrote in a comment below:

This post ended up being very important, for it was one of the most balanced and updated piece of writing on this issue on the Web, and many people were being pointed to it as an example of a balanced take on what was happening as others were screaming about Israeli atrocities. This diary was FAR from a "hair-on-fire" piece of writing. And I'm thankful that it was disseminated widely to counter the rumors rampant on the Web.

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