In blacked-out Gaza, Elon Musk’s Starlink opens an internet bubble

Elon Musk said his Starlink satellite internet service is now operating in a hospital in Gaza, following months of negotiations over humanitarian exceptions to an internet blackout Israel imposed across the war-battered territory. Musk wrote that Starlink was now active there with the support of Israel and the United Arab Emirates, which has been involved in negotiations to mitigate some effects of the Israel-Gaza war. While the provision of internet service for a single hospital is a breakthrough, its limited impact reflects the Israeli government’s reluctance for residents of Gaza to have internet access more broadly, lest it be used by Hamas in the war. “It’s a minuscule offer,” said Ken Zita, a telecommunications expert who worked for the US government around a decade ago on securing internet connectivity in the Palestinian territories. “It’s one location.”