JERUSALEM—SpaceX’s Starlink will support communication links in the Gaza Strip with “internationally recognized aid organizations,” prompting Israel’s communication minister to say Israel would fight the move, SpaceX CEO Elon Musk said on Oct. 28.
Mr. Musk said in a post on social media platform X that it isn’t clear who has authority for ground links in Gaza, and that “no terminal has requested a connection in that area.”
A telephone and internet blackout isolated people in the Gaza Strip from the world and from each other as of Oct. 28.
International humanitarian organizations say the blackout, which began late on Oct. 27, is worsening an already desperate situation by impeding life-saving operations and preventing contact with their staff on the ground.
SpaceX officials didn’t immediately respond to Reuters’ request for comment on how it would ensure any Starlink connection was used by aid organizations and not by the Palestinian terrorist group Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip.
Israel’s communication minister Shlomo Karhi said Israel “will use all means at its disposal to fight this,” in response to Mr. Musk’s post on X.
“Hamas will use it for terrorist activities,” Karhi wrote. “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 any ties with Starlink.”
Following Russia’s February 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Starlink satellites were reported to have been critical to maintaining internet connectivity in some areas, despite attempted Russian jamming.
Since then, Musk has said he declined to extend coverage over Russian-occupied Crimea, refusing to allow his satellites to be used for Ukrainian attacks on Russian forces there.
