Starlink service has played a key role in providing care at the hospital
Hussain Sajwani, an Emirati billionaire businessman and a social media influencer who is also the founder and owner of DAMAC Properties has posted on his timeline on X to appreciate Elon Musk, mentioning that, “Elon Musk’s Starlink at UAE’s Gaza Field Hospital has helped our facility to provide humanitarian medical assistance to 1000s of innocent people, especially children. Thank you Elon ! “
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.
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.
“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.
“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.
