12th of October 2023
Dear brothers and sisters the following is an update on the current situation in the Holy Land:
In the Gaza Strip there are approximately 1,000 Christians, a majority belonging to the Greek Orthodox Patriarchate of Jerusalem, according to the U.S. State Department.
Within the State of Israel, there are approximately 185,000 Christian citizens with a large number also belonging to the Patriarchate of Jerusalem.
The Holy Orthodox Order of Saint George the Great Martyr’s primary mission has always been helping the Orthodox Christians in the Holy Land and Greater Middle East, and we are currently facing a challenge that is greater than any conflict in at least fifty years as the current war continues between Israel and Hamas.
The current relentless bombings of Gaza, and the sealing off of the entrances and exits, preventing access to food, water, medicine, gas, and electricity, the lives of the innocent are in imminent danger.
The UN World Food Program warns that crucial supplies will soon be depleted in Gaza and calls the situation “dire and devastating.”
So far, the casualties that we know of include:
-1,200 dead in Israel
-1,527 dead in Gaza including at least 500 children and 227 women.
-6,612 injured in Gaza
-338,000 displaced in Gaza after fleeing their homes
The World Health Organization (WHO) confirmed that at least 34 Israeli air strikes have hit health facilities in Gaza and warns that the health system in Gaza is “at breaking point” and that “time is running out to prevent a humanitarian catastrophe.”
Human Rights Watch concluded that Israel used white phosphorus in military operations in Gaza City port and in other crowded civilian neighborhoods throughout Gaza. White phosphorus “poses a high risk of excruciating burns and lifelong suffering.”
The Order continues to monitor these events as they occur, and we stand ready to assist as much as we can. We know that casualties will likely continue to rise before there is calm and peace in the Holy Land once again.
We cannot carry out our mission and support suffering Christians in the Holy Land and Middle East without your financial support and prayers. Please prayerfully consider a monetary contribution to allow us to carry out this important and dire work.
The Order will be establishing an independent fund to assist the Christians of Gaza rebuild their homes and churches destroyed as a direct result of this war.
The Order condemns terrorism in all forms and stands in firm solidarity with the Christians of Palestine and with innocent women and children of this conflict across the Holy Land.
May Christ Our God have eternal mercy upon all the dead both in Palestine and in Israel, that He in His infinite love may pardon, remit, and forgive all their sins so that they may dwell with Him in the Holy Habitations of Paradise with His Holy Mother and Saints. That they may dwell with Christ in His Glory, where there is the ceaseless sound of those that keep festival, and the unspeakable delight of those that behold the ineffable beauty of His Countenance.
