Readers, please compare these statements from two aid organisations:
Doctors Without Borders / Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF)
“The majority of Gazans are now crammed into the south, where hospitals are struggling to meet the mounting needs.
“Recently, Doctors Without Borders/Médecins Sans Frontières (MSF) set up a clinic inside the Rafah Indonesian Field Hospital in southern Gaza. Our teams at this clinic provide post-operative care to Palestinians displaced from all over Gaza to free up beds in emergency rooms in other hospitals, like Nasser Hospital in Khan Younis, where we are also providing care.
“’The patients here have sustained burns and violence-related injuries from the war,’ says Ahmed Abu Warda, MSF emergency doctor. Abu Warda had to flee Gaza City to the south of the strip as strikes intensified. There, he resumed his medical work with MSF.
“About 1.9 million Gazans—about 85 per cent of the entire population of Gaza—have been forced to flee their homes, according to UN OCHA. More than half of those displaced are crammed into the southern part of Gaza, particularly around Rafah, where the Rafah Indonesian Hospital is located.
“Shorouk Al-Rantisi, a physiotherapy patient at Rafah Indonesian Hospital, says she has had to flee several times since the beginning of the war. Her leg was broken while she was trapped under rubble after a strike on northern Gaza’s Jabalia refugee camp, where she had sought refuge with her family. ‘I spent a whole hour under the rubble,’ Shorouk says. ‘I was shouting but nobody heard me. Finally, they heard my weak voice. I was under multiple metal objects, which broke my leg.'”
Franklin Graham of Samaritan’s Purse
In October, the description – still on the SP website – was, “As the fighting between Israel and Hamas intensifies, Samaritan’s Purse is supporting churches and Christian partners in Israel as they reach out to civilians who have been impacted.
“Samaritan’s Purse has a history of also working in Palestinian areas and continues today. We are committed to doing what we can to help those in need and have officially offered the government of Israel emergency field hospitals along with medical personnel, supplies, and equipment.
“At this time, humanitarian access to Gaza is not possible, and the border is sealed. Our prayers are with all those who are suffering in the midst of this war.
“Sincerely,
“Franklin Graham
President, Samaritan’s Purse”
In a December Update “Bringing Relief to Israeli Families”, Samaritan’s Purse mentioned Gaza:
“Humanitarian access in Gaza has been limited, but Samaritan’s Purse has long-standing Christian partners there, and we are working hard to equip them to help their neighbours.”
The update had a donations tag: “Israel Response: Samaritan’s Purse is helping meet the physical and spiritual needs of people on both sides of the Israel-Hamas war. In partnership with local churches and ministry partners, we are bringing urgently needed relief to communities deeply impacted by the conflict.”
In November, The Washington Post picked up a Religious News Service (RNS) story by Yonat Shimron that reported, “Graham said Samaritan’s Purse is working with two churches in Gaza, a region that is overwhelmingly Muslim. ‘The fighting is raging around them, and we have asked the Israelis to please let them help them to evacuate to the south because these Christians are being terrorized by Hamas,’ he said. ‘They have no place to run, no place to go.’
“Graham said Samaritan’s Purse would also begin sending some medical supplies to Gaza through the Red Crescent in Egypt.”
The Washington Post and RNS story also reported Graham meeting Prime Minister Netanyahu and praying that “God would strengthen him, give him wisdom, give him a clear mind and give him victory over his enemies.”
When The Other Cheek followed up with a local Samaritan’s Purse insider, the same language of “they are looking to work with Christian churches” in Gaza came back. On the face of it, this might mean that Samaritan’s Purse is waiting for it to be safer in Gaza.
A more generous interpretation of the situation could be that Samaritan’s Purse is actually in Gaza in some form but is keeping it secret. Any supplies to the Red Crescent might be in this category; there’s been no further mention that The Other Cheek can find.
In Israel, Samaritan’s Purse efforts have revolved around replacing 14 ambulances destroyed during the Hamas terrorist attack on October 7. One of the 14 ambulances was funded by Samaritan’s Purse supporters in Australia and New Zealand. Seven more armoured ambulances are on order. The ambulances featured strongly in an hour-long interview Franklin Graham gave to the TBN program “Grace.” (It can’t be linked directly but is on the TBN app, dated January 26) Nowhere does Franklin Graham mention Samaritan’s Purse’s involvement in Gaza. He does mention helping Palestinians – but on the West Bank.
While speaking of prayer, Franklin Graham added, “That’s the way we are to pray. We don’t give up, we don’t quit. We just don’t pray one time. We just keep praying, keep praying, keep praying, and we need to pray for Israel. We need to pray for the peace of Jerusalem. God commands that. We pray for the peace of Jerusalem, and we need to remember the Palestinians that wanted nothing to do with this, that are being killed, that are innocent people that are dying. Israel doesn’t want to be in there killing innocent people, but they’re having to destroy the enemy that are hiding behind innocent people. And so we are trying to help churches on the West Bank because one of the big problems was when October 7th happened, Israel shut the border. You had tens of thousands of Palestinians that worked inside of Israel that got a paycheck.
“Now they cannot come into Israel. It’s sealed. And so these are families that are without income. And so we’ve been helping churches on the West Bank trying to help our brothers and sisters in faith in Jesus Christ that are Palestinians trying to help them as well. So it’s complicated, and there’s no easy answer, but just believe in you, help everybody, but do it in the name of Jesus Christ.”
The Other Cheek does not wish to rush to judgment on Samaritan’s Purse: as speculated above, it is possible they may have a secret involvement in Gaza.
But the preponderance of Christian agencies with a focus on Israel is a legitimate concern. In the article by Yonat Shimron, he lists the Southern Baptist Convention’s Send Relief and Christians United for Israel alongside Samaritans Purse as focused on Israel.
For example, the Samaritan’s Purse Australian site currently features the ambulance story and trauma kits for Israel. These are worthy projects, under a donation button “Support our Israel Crisis Relief.”
But a question to be asked is, “Where is the greatest need?” Aiding Gazans would not imply support for Hamas. As Haviv Rettig Gur, the senior analyst of the Times of Israel has argued, adopting something like a Marshall Plan is in Israel’s best interests (but however it would be unpopular among Nethaya government supporters.) And if it is deemed too dangerous to have Samaritan’s Purse US volunteers on the ground, why not donate a field hospital to MSF or the Jordanians? I hope I am wrong, and that has already happened.