Samaritan’s Perseverance Launches Inaugural 767 Cargo Plane With Gaza Aid Mission
Rev. Franklin GrahamThe Christian relief organization Samaritan’s Purse on Friday launched its inaugural 767 cargo plane, carrying 290,000 packets of vitamin-fortified food, thousands of blankets and solar lamps for women and children in Gaza, the humanitarian ministry’s latest aid mission to the war-torn region.
In an exclusive statement to Fox News Digital, Graham said the relief effort comes amid continued instability.
“Gaza is a very unstable place – it’s still dangerous. There are over 2 million people who need help,” Graham said. “What Hamas did was terrible. It was a massacre. Not only that, they took 251 innocent civilians. Hostages from Israel As of October 7, they have held the entire population of Gaza hostage for 18 years. Hamas has to go.”
He also noted that the plane’s mission was driven by the desire to show compassion in times of crisis.
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In this photo shared exclusively with Fox News Digital, Samaritan’s Purse President and CEO Rev. Franklin Graham, left, speaks with James Vecheri, the organization’s director of mission aviation services, before the inauguration of a 767 cargo flight carrying aid to Gaza, Friday, in Greensboro, NC. (Courtesy of Samaritan’s Purse)
“Today we are receiving more than 290,000 packets of protein-packed and vitamin-packed food, as well as thousands of solar lamps and blankets for families who have lost so much,” he said. “Pray with us for the people in Gaza that this cargo will help.”
The shipment left on Friday morning from the organization’s Airlift Response Center in GreensboroNorth Carolina. Before takeoff, Graham joined crews and flight crews on the tarmac, bowing in prayer beside the big white jet that marks a new chapter in the relief group’s aviation fleet.
Edward Graham, Samaritan’s Purse The COO and Franklin Graham’s younger son called Gaza “one of the most challenging places to work in the world” and thanked the staff for serving in the face of danger.
In this photo shared exclusively with Fox News Digital, Franklin Graham leads the Samaritan’s Purse staff and aviation team before the organization’s relief flight to Gaza, Friday, in Greensboro, N.C. (Courtesy of Samaritan’s Purse)
“The Samaritan’s purse is able to help there and Show God’s love It’s something that only He can do for the people of Gaza,” Edward Graham said. “I’m thankful for our staff who are willing to go and have their hearts broken and pierced by things that break the heart of Jesus Christ.”
The group’s latest airlift comes nearly two years after the outbreak of war, which has left families across Gaza without constant access to food, electricity or medicine.
After the fighting began, Samaritan’s Purse immediately began working in the region, sending doctors, nurses and emergency aid. Since then, the organization says it has distributed more than 223 tons of food and more than one million rations to civilians, while medical teams have treated more than 1,700 patients.
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In this photo shared with Fox News Digital on Friday, a Samaritan’s Purse 767 cargo plane takes off from Greensboro, NC, carrying food, blankets and solar lights for families in Gaza. (Courtesy of Samaritan’s Purse)
These new shipments continued their work with a special focus on children and women who remained vulnerable constant struggle. The shipment included not only food, but also 12,000 solar-powered lanterns to provide light in power cut communities and 12,000 blankets for families who lost homes or belongings.
The effort reflects a long-term strategy by the North Carolina-based relief group to use its fleet of planes to deliver supplies to hard-hit areas around the world. In recent years, Samaritan’s Purse has deployed mobile field hospitals in Ukraine, distributed emergency shelter kits in Sudan, and assisted earthquake survivors in Haiti.
The addition of the wide-body 767 gives the ministry greater reach, allowing it to deliver larger relief shipments on fewer flights.
A Gazan woman carries Samaritan’s Purse relief packages during distribution in the region. (Courtesy of Samaritan’s Purse)
Franklin Graham said this type of investment is necessary given the extent of human suffering in Gaza and Israel. “It’s about showing God’s love to hurting people,” he said. “It’s about letting them know they’re not forgotten.”
The organization has also worked in Israel, where communities have been rocked by the October 7 terror attack by Hamas and the months of war that have followed. Samaritan’s Perse has pledged 42 ambulances, 28 of them armored, to Israel’s emergency medical service Magen David Adom and is supporting 11 major construction projects, including ambulance response centers and community centers equipped with bomb shelters.
Former Arkansas governor and ambassador to Israel Mike Huckabee praised the effort on Friday, writing on X that Samaritan’s Purse is “the most efficient and effective disaster response organization on the planet.”
The 767 is expected to deliver food and supplies to distribution partners on the ground in Gaza in the coming days. Samaritan’s Purse said additional relief flights are planned as conditions permit.
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“This is not a one-time effort,” Franklin Graham said. “As long as people are suffering, we’ll keep going.”
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