Musk activates internet service in Gaza hospital with help of UAE, Israel

Dubai: Elon Musk's Starlink satellite internet service has been activated in a hospital in the Gaza Strip with the help of the United Arab Emirates and Israel, the SpaceX chief executive said.

The Gulf Arab state's foreign minister, Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed Al Nahyan, thanked the billionaire entrepreneur for supporting the UAE field hospital in Gaza, where many medical facilities have been destroyed in over nine months of war.

"Starlink is now active in a Gaza hospital with the support of @UAEmediaoffice and @Israel," Musk posted on X, more than five months after the Israeli government approved Starlink's use in the hospital in the southern Gaza city of Rafah.

The high-speed internet will enable potentially life-saving medical consultations via real-time video calling, the UAE foreign ministry said in February.

Internet connectivity in Gaza is poor because of the lack of power and fuel to operate provider centres. This makes it harder for medical staff and rescue teams to work, and restricts hospital services and the health ministry's centralised system.

The UAE, an oil producer and regional finance and tourism hub, signed a deal normalising ties with Israel in 2020 along with Bahrain and Morocco. Sudan later also sealed a normalisation agreement with Israel.

The Gaza war began when Hamas-led fighters attacked Israel, killing 1,200 people and taking over 250 hostages back to the Palestinian enclave, according to Israeli tallies.

Israel responded with an offensive that has killed more than 39,000 Palestinians, according to Gaza's Hamas-run health ministry, and devastated much of the coastal territory.