Israel is looking to secure the use of SpaceX’s Starlink satellites as a backup communication system amid the country’s ongoing war against the Gaza-based Hamas terror group.
The talks between Israel and SpaceX were revealed on Tuesday by a government official and come as President Biden visited Israel on Wednesday. Israel has been at war since a Hamas terror attack on Oct. 7 killed at least 1,400 Israeli civilians and soldiers and 30 Americans. The Israel Defense Forces are preparing a ground incursion into Gaza and have carried out strikes that the Palestinian health authorities have said killed at least 2,800 people.
Israel Minister of Communications Shlomo Karhi wrote in a post on X that Israel is working with SpaceX to purchase Starlink satellite communication terminals so that they can be operated in the country to sustain internet connectivity.
He explained that Starlink would help ensure internet connectivity for towns in frontline conflict zones near Israel’s borders with hostile neighbors – such as the Hamas-controlled Gaza Strip and Lebanon, where Iran-backed Hezbollah has a significant presence and has threatened to enter the war on the side of Hamas.
ISRAEL PREPARES TO INVADE GAZA, PRESIDENT BIDEN IS EXPECTED TO VISIT THIS WEEK
Israeli communities in southern Israel are regularly targeted with rocket fire from the Gaza Strip and several were overrun by Hamas on Oct. 7, with many civilians killed and at least 199 abducted into Gaza as hostages of the terror group.
SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has made the Starlink satellite communications system available on a number of occasions to help provide internet access and connectivity to areas impacted by war and natural disasters. Starlink is a satellite internet constellation made up of thousands of small, mass-produced satellites that are in low Earth orbit and communicate with transceivers on the ground.
WHERE ELON MUSK DEPLOYED SPACEX STARLINK SERVICE IN EMERGENCY SITUATIONS
Starlink was deployed to Ukraine following Russia’s invasion to help Ukrainians maintain communications while Russia degraded and destroyed the infrastructure supporting its internet and communications networks. It has been used by Ukraine’s government, military and civilians – supporting both humanitarian and military uses.
After SpaceX initially self-funded Starlink's deployment to Ukraine, the company pressed the U.S. government to help pay for its use, which the company received a contract for early in the summer of 2023. SpaceX President Gwynne Shotwell said in February the company is restricting Ukraine from using Starlink for certain military activities, saying its high-speed broadband was not designed for those purposes.
Starlink has also been used by Iranian citizens amid the government’s 2022 crackdown on protests over the death of a 22-year-old woman in police custody, and in Tonga following a volcanic eruption that disrupted internet connectivity.
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE
In the U.S., SpaceX’s Starlink was used in Florida in the aftermath of Hurricane Ian to help restore connectivity, as well as in Maui after the catastrophic wildfires that occurred there over the summer and devastated the town of Lahaina.
FOX Business' Aislinn Murphy contributed to this report.
