The Ministry of Telecommunications has received a letter from the Permanent Mission of Lebanon to the United Nations and international organizations, via the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, stating that the Radiocommunication Bureau of the International Telecommunication Union (ITU) has reminded Israel of its obligation to respect laws and decisions concerning its interference with communications and the Internet network in Lebanon. This follows a complaint lodged by the Lebanese Ministry of Telecommunications.
The letter explains that the Union has informed the Israeli Ministry of Telecoms of this procedure, and that it will also notify the Lebanese government of any information it may receive from the Israeli side.
For some time now, the Lebanese have been experiencing problems using geolocation and tracking applications. For example, Google Maps, the world’s leading online mapping service, an effective tool for finding your way around or checking road traffic, is rambling and not providing accurate locations.
When asked about this, the caretaker Minister of Telecommunications, Johnny Corm, told Ici Beirut that this was “undoubtedly due to the continuous jamming of GPS signals by the Israeli army”, adding that “even if Lebanon has no technical proof of this, it is logical since the jamming is more intense in the south of the country, as Israel jams the signals to prevent Hezbollah from sending missiles into northern Israel”.
In the same context, the caretaker Minister of Transport and Public Works, Ali Hamiyeh, had already warned of the jamming issue, which he had described as “extremely dangerous for the safety of air navigation”, at the meeting of the International Civil Aviation Organization (ICAO), held last May.
