Connectivity crisis: Damage to Red Sea undersea cables slows global traffic

Report by Ghida Fayad, English adaptation by Karine Keuchkerian 

Have you noticed unusual slowdowns or internet outages recently? The reason lies under the Red Sea.

Imagine the internet suddenly disappearing, like in a scene from Tamer Hosny’s film Restart, after one of the main internet cables is cut. This time, it’s not a movie scene—some cables under the Red Sea have actually been damaged.

Tech giant Microsoft says several international undersea internet cables in the Red Sea were cut for reasons that have not been specified.

The result: Data traffic through the Middle East—whether from Asia or bound for Europe—has been disrupted, slowing Microsoft’s Azure services.

The impact has been widespread, hitting India and Pakistan, while users in the United Arab Emirates reported slower browsing.

These Red Sea cables are among the most important routes connecting Asia, the Middle East, and Europe, passing through the Red Sea and the Suez Canal. They carry data for millions of users worldwide and are managed by international telecom consortia, not a single company.

The cause of the outages remains unclear. Most often, disruptions result from maritime or geological activity, while deliberate sabotage is extremely rare.

Some reports suggest Yemen’s Houthis may be behind the damage as part of their campaign to pressure Israel to halt the war in Gaza, particularly after reports revealed Israel’s Unit 8200 worked with Microsoft to monitor calls in Gaza and the West Bank using the Azure system —a major global surveillance project.

Today, the internet is essential to nearly every part of daily life, and any outage can feel like the world has stopped. Microsoft confirmed that its engineering teams are working to restore service by rerouting internet traffic through alternative lines.