Billionaire entrepreneur Elon Musk offers his Starlink satellite network to support internet access for internationally recognized aid organizations in Gaza amid a telecommunications blackout in the area.
Starlink, a global network of satellites in low Earth orbit, is renowned for its ability to provide internet access to remote and disconnected areas. The offer from Musk, who owns Starlink via his SpaceX, came as a response to a post on X (formerly Twitter) by Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez (D-NY).
"Cutting off all communication to a population of 2.2 million is unacceptable," Ocasio-Cortez posted. "Journalists, medical professionals, humanitarian efforts, and innocents are all endangered. The U.S. has historically denounced this practice."
Musk replied to the congresswoman: "Starlink will support connectivity to internationally recognized aid organizations in Gaza."
Several United Nations (UN) agencies and non-government organizations (NGOs) reported that they had lost communication with their staff in the Gaza Strip due to unreliable internet access. This initiative could help organizations maintain communications and coordinate their relief operations in the region with severe humanitarian needs.
"We could really benefit from Starlink to try getting in touch with our staff and health facilities in Gaza. How can we make it happen?" said Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, secretary-general of the World Health Organization (WHO), as he welcomed Musk's offer.
Israel threatens to cut ties with Musk if Starlink continues to aid Gaza
While other organizations gladly accepted Musk's generous offer, Israeli Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi did not.
"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 and elderly people. All of them." Karhi posted on X.
He also warned in a follow-up comment that his office, the Israeli Ministry of Communications, would sever any connections with Starlink should the satellite internet be utilized inappropriately. (Related: Space war brewing? Russia threatens to destroy Starlink satellites.)
"I am not so naive. Per my post, no Starlink terminal has attempted to connect from Gaza. 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 U.S. and Israeli governments before turning on even a single terminal," Musk responded in the tweet.
These words from Musk reflect the same measures Starlink implemented in Ukraine.
"Starlink is the communication backbone of Ukraine, especially at the front lines, where almost all other internet connectivity has been destroyed. But we will not enable escalation of conflict that may lead to WWIII," Musk wrote on X as a response to a post asking to restore the full functionality of Starlink satellites.
Follow WWIII.news to read more stories related to the conflict between Israel and Palestine.
Watch this clip featuring the Russian Armed Forces destroying a Starlink satellite system communications kit utilized by the Ukrainian Armed Forces by menas of radio-controlled kamikaze drones.
This video is from The Prisoner channel on Brighteon.com.
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Gaza doctors send “SOS to whole world” as U.S. suggests evacuation corridor to Egypt.
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