Israel cuts ties with Starlink as Musk offers satellite service to Gaza

The news comes in the wake of reports that internet connectivity had been severed for the most part.

By World Israel News Staff

Billionaire tycoon Elon Musk announced that SpaceX’s Starlink will operate in the Gaza Strip for the benefit of “internationally recognized aid organizations”.

“Starlink will support connectivity to internationally recognized aid organizations in Gaza”, Musk posted on his X.

Gaza experienced a widespread telephone and internet outage on Saturday. The blackout, starting Friday evening, has made communications within Gaza and to the outside world exceedingly difficult.

International humanitarian groups have expressed concern over the IDF blackout.

It would be very hard to prevent Hamas operatives from utilizing the system, who would leverage it for their own military needs, experts were cited in Israeli media as saying.

The IDF jammed the signals with the aim of disrupting communication among Hamas operatives.

Following the invasion of Ukraine by Russia in February 2022, Starlink satellites played a crucial role in sustaining internet connectivity in certain regions, despite efforts by Russia to jam the signals.

However, Musk refused to extend coverage over Crimea, which is under Russian control, rejecting the use of his satellites for Ukrainian attacks against Russian forces.

In response to Musk’s announcement, Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi stated on Saturday: “Israel will use all means at its disposal to fight this. Hamas will use it for terrorist activities. There is no doubt about it, we know it, and Musk knows it. HAMAS is ISIS. Perhaps Musk would be willing to condition it with the release of our abducted babies, sons, daughters, elderly people. All of them! By then, my office will cut ties with Starlink.”

Musk’s announcement came after Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez slammed Israel’s decision to cut of the internet, saying: “Cutting off all media access for a population of 2.2 million people is unacceptable. I cannot fathom how such an action can be justified.”

Ocasio-Cortez did not condemn Hamas’ brutality in the wake of the Oct. 7 massacre.