• SpaceX CEO Elon Musk has offered his Starlink internet services to aid organizations in Gaza. 
  • Communications and internet connectivity have been shut down in Gaza since Friday. 
  • Starlink services will only work with its terminals, however. 

Elon Musk said that Starlink satellite internet will be made available to aid organizations in Gaza after communications were cut off late Friday.

Internet and cellular services in the Gaza strip went down after Israel bombarded the territory as it prepares to expand ground operations in the wake of the October 7 Hamas attacks.

The emergency 101 telephone number wasn't working, meaning that ambulances could not be called. Many journalists and aid workers in the Gaza Strip were also out of contact, outlets including The Guardian reported.

In a post on X, Democrat congresswoman Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez criticized the loss of telecommunications and internet access, calling it "unacceptable."

In response to her comment, Musk said: "Starlink will support connectivity to internationally recognized aid organisations in Gaza."

Mark Regev, senior advisor to Israeli prime minister Benjamin Netanyahu, told BBC Radio 4 on Saturday morning that "in military operations conducted by the British army, the American army, often it is standard behaviour to disrupt the communications of your enemy."

However, he said he was waiting for a "full briefing" from Israeli military to determine why comms were down, per the BBC.

There has not yet been any confirmation that Starlink has formally offered its services beyond Musk's tweet.

It's also unclear whether there are any Starlink terminals, which are required for the satellite internet connection to work, in the Gaza strip, per The Wall Street Journal.

Israel's communications minister, Shlomo Karhi, said talks were being held SpaceX about using Starlink services – particularly in areas bordering the conflict zones, Tech Crunch reported.

The role of Starlink connectivity in the Ukraine war has attracted controversy over the control it offered Musk in the conflict. He's been accused of shutting off the Starlink network in Crimea during a Ukrainian attack on a Russian naval fleet last year.

SpaceX did not immediately reply to a request for comment from Insider, made outside normal working hours.

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