Billionaire Elon Musk’s Starlink Offers Internet Support to Gas Assistance Organizations
Billionaire Elon Musk announced on Saturday that his satellite service Starlink will provide support to “internationally recognized gas assistance organizations” experiencing a telecommunications shutdown starting from Friday. Starlink is a network of satellites in low near-Earth orbit that can enable internet access in remote areas or in regions where conventional communication infrastructure has been disabled.
This announcement came in response to a post by United States Democratic Congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, who expressed her dismay over the communication blackout in Gaza, calling it “unacceptable.”
However, there are concerns from the Israeli Minister of Communications Shlomo Kari, who threatened to sever ties with Starlink if Musk continues with these actions. Kari stated on X that “Israel will utilize all available means to combat this.”
In response to Musk’s offer, the Director-General of the World Health Organization (WHO), Tedros Adhanom Ghebreyesus, expressed interest in utilizing Starlink’s assistance. He said, “We would greatly benefit from support from Starlink to communicate with our personnel and medical institutions in Gaza. How can we make this happen?”
Various United Nations agencies and non-governmental organizations reported on Saturday that they had lost communication with their teams working in the gas sector. Lynn Hastings, a resident and UN coordinator for humanitarian issues, expressed the urgency of the situation, stating, “Hospitals and humanitarian operations cannot continue without communication.” (source: X)