Israel to fight Elon Musk for providing satellite service to Gaza aid organisations

Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi on Saturday warned X Corp’s CEO Elon Musk against providing satellite internet services in the besieged strip of Gaza. The Israeli minister condemned the tech billionaire’s announcement, saying that Israel “will use all means at its disposal” to fight Musk’s decision of providing the satellite-based communication system, Starlink inside the enclave where the IDF is conducting ground incursion to uproot Hamas.

"Israel will use all means at its disposal to fight Musk's decision," Karhi said, warning that the Hamas will end up using the Starlink for terror activities and attacking the Israeli soldiers. "My office will cut any ties with Starlink," Karhi asserted.

Starlink ‘will extend services to aid organizations in Gaza’: Musk

SpaceX and Tesla’s billionaire CEO wrote on the platform X that Starlink would extend services to the "internationally recognised aid organisations" in the Gaza Strip. The decision came shortly after Israel cut off all communication networks causing total blackout and no aid agency was able to contact its staff anymore. Gaza has been under the relentless Israeli airstrikes since Hamas unfolded the surprise offensive, codenamed the Operation Al-Aqsa Flood, on October 7 and took scores of hostages. 

IDF responded to Hamas with uninterrupted campaign of air raids, artillery fire and bombing, that has also led to civilian casualties. Palestine health ministry says that as many as 7,703 Palestinians, including 3,595 children, have been killed sine the war ensued on both sides. As food, water, fuel and medicines was cut off from the enclave, some 2.3 million residents are huddled inside the tiny land waiting for the aid to arrive. 

A movement tagging Elon Musk gained traction on social media calling the entrepreneur to help restore the internet in the besieged region. After Russia launched an all-out assault on Ukraine in February 2022, Musk’s Starlink satellites were used to provide the critical-to-maintain internet connectivity in some areas despite the Russian jamming of the networks.