‘PURELY HUMANITARIAN REASONS’

Israel to Fight Elon Musk Over Giving Starlink Internet to Gaza Aid Orgs

Elon Musk is once again involving his massive telecommunication network in a foreign conflict.

Elon Musk, the billionaire owner of most of the active satellites orbiting Earth, is once again involving his massive telecommunication network in a foreign conflict. After heavy Israeli bombing knocked out most of Gaza’s internet, Musk said he would use Starlink, SpaceX’s global satellite network, to provide service to “internationally recognized aid organizations in Gaza.” Just hours after Musk announced the effort on X, the social platform he owns (formerly known as Twitter), Israel communications minister Shlomo Karhi responded that “Israel will use all means at its disposal to fight this.” Karhi wrote that “HAMAS will use it for terrorist activities. There is no doubt about it, we know it, and musk knows it. HAMAS is ISIS.” Musk followed up that: “we will take extraordinary measures to confirm that it is used *only* for purely humanitarian reasons. Moreover, we will do a security check with both the US and Israeli governments before turning on even a single terminal.”