Musk Reportedly Agrees to Withhold Starlink Activation over Gaza

Starlink, a satellite internet project under SpaceX, owned by Musk, facilitates internet access in remote areas lacking robust infrastructure like terminals and cables.

It has been reported that Musk landed in Tel Aviv on Monday morning.

Israeli minister Shlomo Karhi shared on X that Musk has reached a preliminary understanding. According to Karhi, this entails operating Starlink satellite units in occupied Palestine, including Gaza, solely upon approval from the Israeli regime's ministry of communications.

Israel's recent attacks on Gaza involved the destruction of communication towers, resulting in a complete internet blackout in the besieged region last month.

In late October, Musk said that SpaceX's Starlink will support communication links in Gaza with "internationally recognized aid organizations", prompting Israel's communication minister to say Israel would fight the move.

A telephone and internet blackout isolated people in the Gaza Strip from the world and from each other, with calls to loved ones, ambulances or colleagues elsewhere all but impossible as Israel continued its nonstop bombardment in Gaza.

At the time, international humanitarian organizations condemned Israel's move, arguing that the blackout was exacerbating an already dire situation by impeding life-saving operations and preventing contact with their staff on the ground. The Israeli military has killed more than 14,854 Palestinians in Gaza since October 7.

Following Russia's operation in Ukraine in February 2022, Starlink satellites were said to have been critical in maintaining internet connectivity in some areas despite Russian disapproval.

Since then, Musk has said he declined to extend coverage over Crimea, refusing to allow his satellites to be used for Ukrainian attacks on Russian forces there.