Rows of glowing light points were seen in the Beersheba sky on Monday night, causing curiosity and even concern among residents.
However, these lights were not caused by rockets from Gaza or missiles from Iran or Yemen, but rather satellites from Elon Musk's Starlink network, which were orbiting in a low trajectory around Earth.
"This is a constellation of commercial satellites from SpaceX, intended to provide communication services, meaning high-speed internet for remote areas," explained Dr. Shmirit Maman, a space technology expert at Ben-Gurion University of the Negev.
"In space, they travel relatively closely together, which is why they appear as a row of lights—an impressive sight that can be seen especially right after sunset or early in the morning when the sun is still shining on the satellites," Maman added.
According to Maman, this is not an unusual phenomenon—even the International Space Station (ISS), which astronauts inhabit, can occasionally be seen as a bright light point crossing the sky.
The ISS "can be observed with the naked eye—you just need to know when to look up. There are several online calculators available for everyone, where you can plan and watch the next pass together with your kids during the holidays," she noted.
Starlink for Iranians
Musk turned on Starlink for Iranians after the Islamic regime limited its online services following the launch of Israeli attacks targeting Iranian nuclear facilities, the billionaire confirmed on June 14.
Approximately a week later, Iran’s government threatened citizens with prosecution if they set up Starlink satellite-internet dishes, even as activists smuggled the equipment across the country’s borders to bypass a sweeping wartime blackout.
Musk and Lebanese President Joseph Aoun spoke by phone to discuss making elements of Musk's sprawling business empire available in Lebanon, Aoun's office confirmed on Thursday. This included Musk expressing "his interest in Lebanon and its telecommunications and internet sectors."
The call came just weeks after Aoun and other top Lebanese officials met with Starlink's Global Director of Licensing and Development, Sam Turner, in Beirut for talks on providing satellite internet services in Lebanon. US ambassador Lisa Johnson was pictured attending those meetings.
Dr. Itay Gal, Jerusalem Post Staff, and Reuters contributed to this report.