(Photo by Pierre Crom/Getty Images)
Elon Musk is facing criticism from the Israeli government for wanting to supply Starlink access to humanitarian aid groups working in Gaza.
Musk tweeted about the plan over the weekend amid reports that internet connectivity and cellular access in Gaza had been abruptly cut off as the Israeli military gears up for a ground invasion of the area.
The blackout in Gaza caused some users to tweet the “#starlinkforgaza” hashtag, calling for SpaceX to bring the company’s satellite internet service to the region. On Saturday, Musk tweeted: “Starlink will support connectivity to internationally recognized aid organizations in Gaza.”
However, his tweet faced quick pushback from Israel's Minister of Communications, Shlomo Karhi, who threatened to sever ties with SpaceX over the matter. “Israel will use all means at its disposal to fight this,” he wrote. “HAMAS will use it [Starlink] for terrorist activities. There is no doubt about it, we know it, and musk knows it. HAMAS is ISIS.”
In response, Musk said SpaceX isn’t “naive” about the thorny situation in Gaza, where Hamas is based. He also tried to reassure the Israeli government that Starlink access would only be granted to official humanitarian groups.
“Per my post, no Starlink terminal has attempted to connect from Gaza,” he added. “If one does, we will take extraordinary measures to confirm that it is used only for purely humanitarian reasons. Moreover, we will do a security check with both the US and Israeli governments before turning on even a single terminal.”
Two weeks earlier, the Israeli government said it was in talks with SpaceX about bringing Starlink to the country. The internet system works by relaying high-speed broadband via thousands of orbiting satellites. Hence, Starlink has become an invaluable way to deliver internet access during emergency situations, which is why the technology is widely deployed in Ukraine, which is facing a war with Russia.
Still, Musk has faced plenty of controversy over trying to prevent the Ukrainian government from using Starlink for military purposes. On the Israel-Hamas war, Musk indicated he’d inevitably face a backlash, no matter what choice he made.
It’ll likely take time before SpaceX can officially launch Starlink in Israel and Gaza since the company needs to build enough ground infrastructure in the region before it can efficiently beam the high-speed broadband to users on the ground. In the meantime, it looks like internet and cellular connectivity began returning to Gaza on Sunday.
Why the internet blackout occurred in the first place remains unclear. But a chief executive at a Palestinian telecommunications company told The New York Times that Israel is to blame for the disruption since the company had made no repairs to restore the broadband access.
So far, the Israeli government has declined to comment on the internet blackout.