Sheikh Abdullah thanks Elon Musk for Starlink internet service in Gaza field hospital

Starlink service has played a key role in providing care at the hospital

Elon Musk was thanked by Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, for providing the Starlink internet service at the UAE field hospital in Gaza. Reuters

Sheikh Abdullah bin Zayed, Deputy Prime Minister and Minister of Foreign Affairs, has thanked Elon Musk for equipping the UAE field hospital in Gaza with SpaceX's Starlink internet service.

Mr Musk took to the social media platform X to say the field hospital was fitted out with the Starlink system, with the support of both the UAE and Israel.

The system was announced this year to help health workers deliver care in Gaza, which has been hit by communication breakdowns since Israeli attacks began on October 7.

“Starlink is now active in a Gaza hospital with the support of UAE Media Office and Israel,” Mr Musk wrote on X, his social media network.

This led to a response from Sheikh Abdullah.

“Thanks Elon Musk for supporting the Gaza UAE field hospital,” wrote Sheikh Abdullah.

Mr Musk responded in turn with a message in Arabic, which translates in English as: “No thanks needed when doing my duty.”

Essential need

Frequent power cuts were interfering with efforts to co-ordinate aid to the Palestinian people facing a worsening humanitarian crisis in Gaza.

The Ministry of Foreign Affairs emphasised the importance of providing reliable high-speed internet to support medical care.

The field hospital was established in December to help ease the significant pressure placed on Gaza's health service.

More than 48,000 injured Palestinians have been treated at the 200-bed complex in Rafah city since it began operating in December.

The Starlink internet service has allowed the field hospital to provide live video medical consultations to patients, the hospital's director told The National this week.

“We added the service to co-operate with Emirati hospitals and specialists from different countries,” said Dr Sultan Al Kaabi.

“We get consultations about certain cases that we don’t have speciality [for] here in Gaza to provide the best treatment.”

He said his team were determined to ensure they could continue delivering services to alleviate the dire medical situation in the region, by offering essential support to civilians caught in the crossfire.

“We received 48,704 patients and conducted 1,773 surgeries,” Dr Al Kaabi said.

“Our goal is to provide immediate relief to the people of Gaza. We are here to offer our expertise and resources to save lives and improve the health conditions in this critical time.”

The field hospital was created under an order from President Sheikh Mohamed after the majority of Gaza's hospitals were destroyed or left in a state of permanent disrepair.

Aid in numbers

It was announced at the weekend that a total of 1,000 lorries loaded with humanitarian aid sent by the UAE had entered Gaza from Egypt through the Rafah border crossing since November, also under Operation Gallant Knight 3.

The Emirates has also set up 12 warehouses at a logistics base in the Egyptian city of Al Arish, where it is stockpiling tonnes of aid, including nappies, blankets, canned food, flour, rice and medicine.

The UAE has also set up five automatic bakeries and six desalination plants that produce 1.2 million gallons of clean water a day for 600,000 people in the Gaza Strip.

At least 3,380 tonnes of relief supplies were also sent to isolated parts of Gaza by airdrops.

More than 39,000 Palestinians have been killed to date, with 90,147 injured in Gaza since the war began on October 7, after Hamas attacked southern Israel, killing about 1,200 people and taking 240 hostages.