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SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has announced that the Starlink satellite internet services will be made available to aid organizations in Gaza. This comes after communications and internet connectivity in the region were shut down since Friday due to the Israeli bombardment. The Gaza Strip experienced a complete outage of internet and cellular services, leaving ambulances unable to be called and journalists and aid workers out of contact.

In response to Musk’s offer, Israel’s communications minister, Shlomo Karhi, stated that Israel would fight against the effort to offer Starlink to Gaza, citing concerns that Hamas, the governing authority in Gaza, could potentially use it for terrorist activities.

Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez criticized the loss of telecommunications and internet access in Gaza as “unacceptable” on social media. Musk responded by stating that Starlink would support connectivity to internationally recognized aid organizations in Gaza.

At this stage, there has been no formal confirmation that Starlink has offered its services beyond Musk’s tweet. It is also unclear whether there are any Starlink terminals in Gaza to establish the satellite internet connection. Talks have been held with SpaceX regarding the use of Starlink services in areas bordering the conflict zones.

The role of Starlink connectivity in the Ukraine war has raised controversy in the past. Musk has been accused of shutting off the Starlink network in Crimea during a Ukrainian attack on a Russian naval fleet. SpaceX has not yet provided a response to requests for comment.

While disruptions in communications during military operations are not uncommon, the cause of the outage in Gaza is still being investigated. Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu’s senior advisor, Mark Regev, mentioned that disrupting enemy communications is a standard practice in military operations but awaits a full briefing from the Israeli military to determine the exact cause of the outage.

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