The Starlink satellite internet service, owned by the tech entrepreneur, has secured a license to operate in Israel and certain areas of the Gaza Strip. To ensure restricted access, the company has committed to implementing measures preventing Hamas from obtaining access. The service will be accessible to specific authorities in Israel, with government approval granted for its use at a field hospital operated by the United Arab Emirates in southern Gaza. This approval facilitates real-time video medical consultations conducted by doctors. Israeli communications minister Shlomo Karhi said the deal was reached on a case-by-case basis after verifying that there was no risk to security.
In October, Musk suggested that SpaceX’s Starlink could help the people of Gaza stay connected to their families, ambulances, and other colleagues after a telephone and internet blackout isolated the area from the world as Israel escalated its air and ground assault against the Palestinian territory controlled by Hamas terrorists. Israeli authorities immediately vowed to fight the proposal.
According to Herzog’s office, Musk met with Israeli President Isaac Herzog and Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu on Monday. He also visited the Kfar Azza kibbutz in southern Israel, which was hit by a rocket fired by Hamas on Oct. 7 that started the seven-week Gaza war in which more than 2,000 people have died on both sides. After touring the site, Musk said it was “amazing what humans can do when they’re fed lies since they were children.”
Musk’s Starlink uses a constellation of low-Earth orbit satellites to beam data back down to receivers on Earth. It is commonly used in war zones to enable military and other personnel in remote locations to communicate with each other and the outside world. It has been deployed in Ukraine after Russia’s invasion and in Tonga following a volcanic eruption.
The Starlink service will be sold through an Israeli company, and its first sales will be limited to official bodies in Israel. Starlink agreed not to grant access to humanitarian organizations in the Gaza Strip without the approval of Israel’s defense establishment, an official from the ministry said.
In a tweet, Musk described the meeting as “extremely productive.” He said he hopes to work with “the Israeli & Palestinian people for a better future, free of evil and antisemitism, for our kids’ sake.” The billionaire has been widely condemned for comments on X, his social media platform that was once known as Twitter, that were seen as anti-Semitic. He has pledged to crack down on antisemitism on the website.