A Silicon Valley VC Says He Got the IDF Starlink Access Within Days of October 7 Attack

Eyal did not reply to two follow-up messages that contained quotes from the webinar and offered Eyal the opportunity to correct or clarify anything that was said.

On October 20, 2023, the IDF launched an offensive in Gaza that specifically targeted the territory’s internet and telecommunications infrastructure. This resulted in a “complete disruption” of internet and cellular communication for the then 2.3 million people living there.

A few days later, Elon Musk began what would reportedly become tense negotiations with the Israeli Communications Ministry to provide Starlink access in the area. On October 28, Musk said on X that Starlink would “support connectivity to internationally recognized aid organizations in Gaza” in a reply to US representative Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez drawing attention to the communications blackout.

Israeli communications minister Shlomo Karhi, in a quote-post of Musk, said that Israel would “use all means at its disposal to fight this,” claiming that Hamas would find a way to access and use Starlink for “terrorist activities.”

“Perhaps Musk would be willing to condition it with the release of our abducted babies, sons, daughters, elderly people,” Karhi wrote. “All of them! By then, my office will cut any ties with starlink.”

Musk replied a few hours later, saying, “We are not so naive.”

“Per my post, no Starlink terminal has attempted to connect from Gaza,” Musk added. “If one does, we will take extraordinary measures to confirm that it is used *only* for purely humanitarian reasons. Moreover, we will do a security check with both the US and Israeli governments before turning on even a single terminal.”

The Israeli Communications Ministry did not approve any use of Starlink in Israel or Gaza until February 14, 2024. At that point, Kahri said in a post on X, Starlink could be used both in Israel and at a United Arab Emirates–run field hospital in Rafah.

“The use of the company’s services will be limited at first with broader use expected in the future,” Kahri said in the post.

Eyal mentioned on the webinar that it is currently “a matter of weeks” before Starlink is “launched for Israel as a whole” and available to any person or business. It is unclear if this access will include the occupied West Bank and Gaza.

SpaceX, the IDF, and the Israeli Communications Ministry did not respond for comment.

According to Agence France-Presse, 1,189 Israelis died as a result of Hamas’ October 7 attack on Israel. Hamas also took 251 Israelis to Gaza as hostages, of which 58 remain, and 23 are believed to be alive.

Between 53,000 and 62,000 Palestinians have died as a result of Israel’s military offensive into Gaza that followed October 7, according to Gaza’s Ministry of Health and Government Media Office. The exact death toll is unclear, because there is an unknown number of bodies buried under the rubble of destroyed buildings. Israel has blocked any food or medical aid entering Gaza since the beginning of March, which aid workers say have resulted in increasingly catastrophic and dire living conditions.