Franklin Graham travels to Israel, donates new ambulances
Franklin Graham tours a destroyed house near the Gaza border, describes what Samaritan’s Purse is doing to assist the situation on the ground in Israel.
Samaritan's Purse is donating 21 ambulances to Israel's emergency services system in addition to the humanitarian work it has been doing in Israel and Gaza since the Oct. 7 terrorist attacks.
Rev. Franklin Graham, president and CEO of both Samaritan's Purse and the Billy Graham Evangelistic Association, announced the commitment to donate 21 ambulances during a visit to Kibbutz Be'eri on Tuesday, November 14.
About 100 residents of the kibbutz, located near Gaza, were killed in last month's attacks.
Previously, Samaritan's Purse had pledged to donate 14 ambulances to Magen David Adom (MDA), Israel's national medical emergency, disaster, ambulance and blood service. Those 14 vehicles are to replace the ones destroyed in the October terrorist attacks, said a press release from Samaritan's Purse.
The decision to donate an additional seven armored ambulances came after Graham visited the kibbutz, said the release. (SEE the video at the top of this article.)
Said Rev. Graham in comments shared with Fox News Digital about his visit in Israel, "It was a privilege to meet and pray with Israel’s Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu."
Rev. Franklin Graham was moved to donate an additional seven ambulances to Israel's Magen David Adom emergency services after he visited Kibbutz Be'eri, which Hamas attacked on Oct. 7. (Samaritan's Purse)
He added, "This man needs our prayers. He is facing the most trying time since the birth of their nation with 1,200 people killed, more than 240 men, women and children taken as hostages, and many injured in the Hamas attack."
Graham also said, "As I spoke with a woman whose husband was taken hostage, the fear and heartache [she's experiencing] is overwhelming. Pray for these hostages and their families, pray for Prime Minister Netanyahu, and pray for the peace of Jerusalem."
During the visit, Graham saw the bullet-riddled homes and learned that multiple MDA medics were killed in the attacks, including one who was shot in an ambulance.
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Samaritan's Purse will also donate trauma supply kits to Israel's MDA.
These kits will include a "combat application tourniquet," as well as kits for sutures, chest tubes and intubation.
"Innocent families are suffering in Israel and Gaza as a result of the war, and many lives have been lost because they haven’t been able to reach medical care fast enough, especially after the terrorists disabled MDA ambulances stationed in the communities and targeted other ambulances arriving to help," said Graham in the press release.
Rev. Graham (left) met and prayed with Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu (right) on Wednesday, Nov. 15, 2023, in Israel. (Samaritan’s Purse)
"This is why we are committed to replacing ambulances that Hamas destroyed and sending trauma kits," he said.
The trauma kits will be sent to MDA first responders located in areas at high risk of suffering rocket attacks, said Samaritan's Purse.
"We’re deeply grateful to Franklin Graham and Samaritan’s Purse," said Eli Bin, director-general of Magen David Adom.
"The commitment from Samaritan’s Purse replaces ambulances we lost during the opening attacks of the war and puts additional ambulances in our fleet as part of our goal for adding 600 new ambulances this year," Bin added.
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The armored ambulances will be especially helpful to protect EMTs, said Bin.
Medical workers were being targeted by Hamas, in violation of the Geneva Convention, he said.
Samaritan's Purse immediately mobilized on the ground in Israel and Gaza after the Oct. 7 terror attacks, providing food and other aid. (Samaritan's Purse)
Since its 1970 founding, "Samaritan’s Purse has helped meet needs of people who are victims of war, poverty, natural disasters, disease and famine with the purpose of sharing God’s love through His Son, Jesus Christ," the group's website notes.
Samaritan's Purse has been working with more than 50 Christian churches in both Israel and Gaza, providing food, food vouchers, hygiene kits, and hot meals for people who have been displaced by the ongoing conflict.
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Since Oct. 7, Samaritan's Purse has distributed nearly 6,000 food vouchers, 300 food boxes, and 3,800 hot meals, the organization told Fox News Digital.
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The organization also provided medical supplies to search and rescue teams in the wake of the attacks.
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