Tech entrepreneur Elon Musk announced on Tuesday night that his Starlink broadband internet satellite service is online at a hospital in Rafah, the southern Gaza Strip, with the support of the United Arab Emirates and Israel.
“Starlink is now active in a Gaza hospital with the support of @UAEmediaoffice and @Israel,” the SpaceX CEO tweeted (Starlink is run by Musk’s rocket company).
Starlink is now active in a Gaza hospital with the support of @UAEmediaoffice and @Israel
— Elon Musk (@elonmusk) July 23, 2024
In a response tweet in English, Emirati Foreign Minister Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan thanked Musk for supporting the Gulf hospital, to which the businessman and investor replied in Arabic: “No thanks needed when doing my duty.”
According to the UAE state-owned English-language daily newspaper The National, the field hospital was set up in December. The hospital’s director, Dr. Sultan Al Kaabi, told the newspaper that the Starlink service has allowed for live video medical consultations with patients.
“We added the service to cooperate with Emirati hospitals and specialists from different countries,” he said. “We get consultations about certain cases that we don’t have speciality [for] here in Gaza to provide the best treatment.”
In February, Israel’s Communications Ministry approved the use of Starlink at the UAE field hospital in Rafah.
The UAE normalized relations with Israel in 2020 as part of the Trump administration-brokered Abraham Accords.
Musk first proposed Starlink for Gaza aid organizations in October, weeks after the Hamas-led massacre of some 1,200 people and kidnapping of 251 others in southern Israel. The move drew heavy criticism from Israel over concerns that Hamas could take advantage.
As part of the approval by Communications Minister Shlomo Karhi in February, Starlink will also be available in Israel, enabling Israelis to access broadband services in the event of disruption to ground-based communications.
Israel’s Communications Ministry responded to a Channel 12 inquiry about Starlink being activated at the Rafah hospital.
“The minister and the security officials approved for the United Arab Emirates to introduce the technology to a field hospital under their management, already about six months ago. In general, only units that are approved by the security, so that they reach authorized parties without fear of being used by Hamas or another hostile party, will be able to operate in Gaza. At the moment, as mentioned, the approval is relevant for the use of a field hospital of the United Arab Emirates.”
