Elon Musk, Benjamin Netanyahu tour horrors of October 7th massacre in Israel
During the Israel visit, Musk is expected to meet with Netanyahu, Israeli President Isaac Herzog and the country’s technology executives
Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu hosted Elon Musk on Monday to tour the horrors of the Oct. 7 massacre, specifically at Kibbutz Kfar Gaza, an Israeli community that borders Gaza.
Musk, who was wearing a dark suit with a bulletproof vest, joined Netanyahu and military officials, who were also wearing protective equipment, for a walk through the desolate community, still reeling from the massacre when 1,200 Israelis were killed in a single day. In the same attack, more than 240 hostages were dragged back into Gaza by the Hamas-led forces.
During Monday's visit, Musk met with victims’ families, heard from local community leaders and saw firsthand the destruction of the kibbutz. He walked through various homes, where a child’s crib was riddled with bullet shells, furniture and belongings were torched, and whole buildings were destroyed.
Musk, the chief executive of Tesla and SpaceX, then went to the home of the Liebstein family, where he heard the story of the heroism of the late Ofir Liebstein, the head of the council who was murdered on the morning of Oct. 7 when he attempted to fend off the terrorists who infiltrated the kibbutz, according to a statement from Netanyahu’s office.
EU GIVES ELON MUSK 24-HOUR ULTIMATUM TO CONFRONT ALLEGED MISINFORMATION ON X ABOUT ISRAEL-HAMAS WAR
Later, Musk and Netanyahu traveled to the house of the Itamari family, where they heard the story of the family of the 4-year-old girl Avigail Idan, whose parents were murdered before she was taken from her home to Gaza. Avigail was among the hostages Hamas released on Sunday.
At the family home, an Israeli Defense Forces official provided photos of what the home and the community looked like just days before members of the Izeddin al-Qassam Brigades, the military wing of Hamas, carried out the massacre, the prime minister's office said.
Musk and the group also moved to the youth neighborhood in the kibbutz, an area of the community affected the most during the Oct. 7 attack.
Musk and Netanyahu also participated in a live chat on Musk's social media platform X, where they discussed various topics including artificial intelligence.
Later, Musk is scheduled to meet with Israeli President Isaac Herzog, war cabinet minister Benny Gantz, and other representatives of hostage families, according to Netanyahu's office.
He is also expected to meet with executives from the country’s technology sector, Bloomberg reported. Musk has previously suggested he could provide Israel or humanitarian groups with access to Starlink, a satellite-based internet service, to support communications in Israel and Gaza. He has yet to do so.
The visit comes as Musk faces accusations of supporting antisemitic content by allowing such content on X, and for agreeing with a statement that accused Jewish communities of promoting hatred of White people.
Musk has defended himself against such personal accusations, claiming he did not mean to generalize the Jewish community as a whole. He said about allegations of antisemitism, "Nothing could be further from the truth," and has recently announced that messages on X promoting genocide of any kind would result in account suspensions.
GET FOX BUSINESS ON THE GO BY CLICKING HERE
Hamas leaders and Netanyahu have vowed to continue fighting after the temporary truce expires to see through their war objectives.
The current war was triggered when Hamas, which the U.S. State Department identifies as a terrorist organization, led an invasion of Israeli border communities, slaughtering about 1,200 people on Oct. 7.
FOX Business's Eric Revell contributed to this story.