Musk says Starlink will provide services to ‘internationally recognized aid organizations in Gaza’

Elon Musk announces that his satellite-based communications system Starlink “will support connectivity to internationally recognized aid organizations in Gaza.”

Musk makes the announcement on X, the platform formerly known as Twitter, in response to a statement by United States Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez that cutting off communications in Gaza was “unacceptable.”

Aid groups say they are unable to communicate with their teams in the Gaza Strip after phone and internet services collapsed during intense Israeli bombardment supporting the intensifying ground operation.

Starlink, operated by Musk-owned company SpaceX, has also been deployed in Ukraine shortly after the country was invaded by Russia in February 2022.

The network, which helps increasingly high-tech soldiers to operate in areas where other means of communication are down, is a key battlefield tool for Kyiv. However, Musk has said he prevented Ukraine from wiping out Russia’s Black Sea navy fleet last year by denying Starlink internet access.

Since billionaire Musk acquired Twitter last year and renamed it X, experts say the platform has become not just unreliable, but actively promotes falsehoods.

X CEO Linda Yaccarino has said the platform has removed hundreds of Hamas-linked accounts and taken down or labeled thousands of pieces of content since the terror group’s murderous assault on Israel.