Starlink to provide internet to aid groups in Gaza, says Musk in response to US leader

Tesla chief and owner of X, Elon Musk on Saturday (Oct 28) said that Starlink will provide connectivity to internationally recognised aid organisations in Gaza. Musk said this while responding to US leader Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, also called AOC, who asked on X how anyone can defend "such an act" after Israel snapped the internet and communications in the Gaza Strip last night.

"Cutting off all communication to a population of 2.2 million is unacceptable. Journalists, medical professionals, humanitarian efforts, and innocents are all endangered," said AOC, in a post on X.

"I do not know how such an act can be defended. The United States has historically denounced this practice,” she added.

Responding to the leader's post on X, Musk said, "Starlink will support connectivity to internationally recognised aid organisations in Gaza."

Reacting to Musk's claims, Israel's communication minister Shlomo Karhi that the country would “use all means at its disposal to fight this”.

"HAMAS will use it for terrorist activities. 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," Karhi said.

Starlink aims at providing low-cost internet in remote areas

Starlink is a satellite network which has been established by the space flight company SpaceX owned by Musk and it provides low-cost internet to people in remote locations.

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The lifespan of a Starlink satellite is approximately five years and eventually, SpaceX plans to have as many as 42,000 satellites in this so-called megaconstellation.

The phone network and internet access were completely snapped across Gaza on Friday (Oct 27), as Israel continued to intensely bombard the Palestinian territory. Israel has been accused by Hamas of taking measures "to perpetrate massacres with bloody retaliatory strikes from the air, land and sea."

The Palestinian Red Crescent Society stated that the "disruption affects the central emergency number 101 and hinders the arrival of ambulance vehicles to the wounded" in the ongoing strikes.

The organisation added that it was "deeply concerned" about the ability of medics to continue providing care to the injured along with the safety of the staff.

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"We have completely lost contact with the operations room in the Gaza Strip and all our teams operating there," it stated on X. Palestinian telecoms provider Jawwal had earlier confirmed the communications shutdown.

"The heavy bombardment in the last hour destroyed all remaining international routes connecting Gaza to the outside world," wrote Jawwal on its Facebook page.

Global internet monitor NetBlocks had stated "a collapse in connectivity in the Gaza Strip with high impact to Paltel," the owner of Jawwal. "The company is the last remaining major operator to supply service as connectivity declines amid ongoing fighting with Israel," wrote NetBlocks on X.

(With inputs from agencies)

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