Elon Musk offers Starlink services for Gaza communication

Elon Musk announced via his platform, X (formerly known as Twitter), that he plans to make his satellite communication system, Starlink, accessible to humanitarian organizations in the Gaza Strip.

This decision by Musk came as a response to a statement from Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, a member of the U.S. House of Representatives, who labeled the severed communications in Gaza as "unacceptable."

Aid organizations have reported difficulties in communicating with their teams in the Gaza Strip. Services such as telephones and the internet have reportedly been disrupted amidst intense Israeli bombardment supporting ongoing ground operations.

Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, the World Health Organization's (WHO) Director, had earlier confirmed that communication with WHO staff, health facilities, and their personnel in the area was lost. Additionally, the Red Crescent, a humanitarian organization, reported having lost contact with their operation center in Gaza City.

The international humanitarian organization Doctors Without Borders also reported that it had lost contact with some of its Palestinian colleagues. The organization expressed particular concern for "patients, medical personnel, and thousands of families seeking refuge in Al Shifa Hospital and other similar institutions."

Musk's SpaceX company, which operates Starlink, had previously deployed the system in Ukraine following the country's invasion by Russia in February 2022.

Hamas' strike from the Gaza Strip on October 7 resulted in the highest number of Israeli fatalities since the 1973 war between the Jewish state and the Syrian-Egyptian coalition. Throughout the ongoing conflict, which has persisted for 21 days up until now, approximately 1.4 thousand Israeli citizens and over 7.3 thousand residents of the Gaza Strip have lost their lives.