BEIRUT – Ignoring all security reports that expressed fears of internet access being diverted from outside the Ministry of Telecommunications, the Lebanese government approved a license for Starlink to allegedly “provide internet distribution services throughout Lebanon via satellite.”

It is worthy noting that Starlink is owned by billionaire Elon Musk, one of the biggest supporters of the Zionist entity.

Under this decision, which violates the Public Procurement Law and the Telecommunications Regulatory Authority, as stipulated in Telecommunications Law (No. 431/2002), Starlink will be able to divert internet access from abroad without any security oversight, facilitating espionage and communication with the Israeli enemy.

Thus, Telecommunications Minister Charles Hajj has cheaply thrown the entire telecommunications sector into the swamp of privatization without any real return to the national treasury.  

In the first year of this contract alone, public sector losses are estimated at approximately $5.9 million in treasury revenue. As for losses to private internet companies, losses are expected to reach approximately $1.1 million per month.

The head of the Parliamentary Communications Committee, Sayyed Ibrahim al-Moussawi, has repeatedly warned against the Minister of Communications’ insistence on a consensual contract with Starlink, despite the security concerns raised by specialized security agencies. 

In MP al-Moussawi’s opinion, contracting with this company, or any other company, in this manner is a concession that requires a law unanimously passed by the House of Representatives, ensuring the public interest and the treasury.

However, it appears that the government, preoccupied with approving “arms exclusivity,” is sparing no effort in breaking the exclusivity of internet and communications services!

The government has achieved nothing but stubbornness, neglecting Lebanon’s interests, and showing no mercy to the pleas of the people of the South and the Bekaa, who are suffering under the series of aggression, nor to the voices of the families of the prisoners held by the enemy.

These families, along with the Prisoners and Detainees Representatives Committee, held a solidarity meeting on Friday at the Lebanese Press Syndicate to demand an investigation into their conditions and to work toward their release.

More than four thousand Zionist violations of Lebanese sovereignty, and about 260 martyrs and 500 wounded is the result of the ongoing Zionist aggression that has continued since the announcement of the October agreement last year, despite the alleged  American-French-UN guarantees.

According to al-Moussawi, the root of the objection to the Starlink contract is its ability to facilitate Starlink users’ ability to connect directly to the internet without going through local censorship mechanisms. It also undermines the principles of digital sovereignty.

This comes as Mohieddine Hasna, convicted by a military court for allegedly handing over pager data to the Israeli enemy, has been released. Last week, Gulf-backed channels gave him extended period of time to discuss his alleged “innocence.”