Elon Musk. Fraser Harrison/Getty Images
Elon Musk’s Starlink has agreed to a series of measures to block Hamas’ access to satellite internet services and won licenses to operate in Israel and parts of the Gaza Strip.
The service is available to some authorities in Israel, and the government has approved its use at a field hospital run by the United Arab Emirates in southern Gaza, the Israeli Ministry of Communications announced in a statement on Wednesday.
Starlink will begin selling the devices through its Israeli subsidiary in the coming weeks, but will initially limit sales to a list of approved customers in Israel, including local governments and government agencies.
“Forces in the Gaza Strip supporting humanitarian objectives can only be approved on a case-by-case basis if Israeli security forces confirm that they are authorized organizations that are not concerned about the risks or potential to endanger national security. ” said Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi. statement.
Starlink’s services are increasingly being used in conflict zones to provide internet access to areas where infrastructure, including military units, has been destroyed. Musk launched a satellite service in Ukraine in the months after the Russian invasion. Ukrainian intelligence said the Russian military is currently using Starlink terminals on the front lines.
Israel plans to use the service for emergency backup communications, but needed assurances from parent company SpaceX that Hamas, the group that controls Gaza and listed as a terrorist organization by the United States and the European Union, would not have access to it.
The UAE will partner with international and regional organizations to introduce the service to the Gaza field hospital, a spokesperson for the country’s foreign ministry said. Said With X.
Read more: Musk says he wants to help rebuild Gaza in chat with Netanyahu
The war between Israel and Hamas began on October 7, when Palestinian militants invaded southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking more than 200 hostages. More than 28,000 Palestinians have been killed in Israeli ground and air operations in Gaza, according to Hamas health officials.
Mr. Musk has been keen to demonstrate his alliance with Israel in recent months, visiting the country in November and touring some massacre sites in the country’s south. The billionaire has been criticized for amplifying anti-Semitic content on his own social platform ‘X’ and allowing hate speech to spread on the site formerly known as Twitter. There is.
Musk had previously suggested he might open up Starlink’s services to aid groups in the Gaza Strip, but backtracked in the face of a fierce reaction from Israeli authorities.
