Paris
\nHours after billionaire Elon Musk offered to provide communication links in war-torn Gaza, Israel said that it would \u201cuse all means at its disposal to fight this\u201d.
\nIsrael\u2019s communication minister Shlomo Karhi expressed apprehension that Musk\u2019s communication links could be used by Hamas militants for \u201cterrorist activities.\u201d
\n\u201cHAMAS will use it for terrorist activities,\u201d Karhi wrote. \u201cPerhaps 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.\u201d Israel knocked out the internet and communications in the besieged enclave on Friday, cutting off nearly 2.3 million people from contacting each other as well as the outside world. International humanitarian organizations said the blackout was worsening an already desperate situation in Gaza.
\n They said that the loss of communication impacts the primary emergency number 101 and obstructs the prompt arrival of ambulances to assist those injured in airstrikes.<\/p>\n
On Saturday, Musk said that Starlink \u2013 a satellite internet constellation operated by the billionaire\u2019s aerospace company SpaceX \u2013 will support connectivity to internationally recognized Gaza aid groups.<\/p>\n
His statement came after US representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez questioned Israel\u2019s move to cut communications in Gaza.
\n\u201cCutting off all communication to a population of 2.2 million is unacceptable. Journalists, medical professionals, humanitarian efforts, and innocents are all endangered,\u201d AOC wrote in a post on X. \u201cI do not know how such an act can be defended. The United States has historically denounced this practice.\u201d<\/p>\n
Responding to her post, Musk wrote: \u201cStarlink will support connectivity to internationally recognized aid organizations in Gaza.\u201d<\/p>\n
Following Russia\u2019s invasion of Ukraine in February 2022, Starlink satellites were reported to have been critical to maintaining internet connectivity in some areas despite attempted Russian jamming.<\/p>\n
However, according to Reuters, SpaceX has not responded to its request for comment on how it would ensure any Starlink connection was used by aid organizations and not by Hamas, which runs the Gaza Strip.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Paris Hours after billionaire Elon Musk offered to provide communication links in war-torn Gaza, Israel said that it would \u201cuse all means at its disposal to fight this\u201d. Israel\u2019s communication minister Shlomo Karhi expressed apprehension that Musk\u2019s communication links could be used by Hamas militants for \u201cterrorist activities.\u201d \u201cHAMAS will use it for terrorist activities,\u201d […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":258233,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[6675],"class_list":{"0":"post-364933","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world","8":"tag-elon-musk"},"yoast_head":"\n