Gaza Strip (MNN) — The latest flare-up in Gaza triggers ripple effects throughout the Middle East. Israel remains at odds with Egypt over last week’s attacks. Earlier this month, Egypt brokered a ceasefire between Israel and Islamic Jihad in the Gaza Strip.
Additionally, Iran’s growing influence through proxy parties in the region cannot be ignored. “You’ve got Hezbollah from southern Lebanon. In Gaza, you have two terrorist groups that hate each other, Hamas and Islamic Jihad. They’re both funded by Iran,” Uncharted Ministries co-founder Tom Doyle says.
“Hamas is the ruling government in Gaza. Islamic Jihad has no political aspirations. They want one thing: to agitate and destroy Israel. That’s the reason they exist,” he continues.
“Iran is [working] behind the scenes, stoking the fires of war. If Iran is ready to attack Israel and send a nuclear-tipped missile, then stirring up the proxy militias to make it a regional attack makes sense to them.”
Meanwhile, in Gaza…
The situation in Gaza is complex. There are few winners in a centuries-old land war pitting two ideologies against each other – Judaism and Islam. A third ideology – Christianity – often goes unseen.
“Muslim background believers are serving Jesus in Gaza,” Doyle says.
“They (believers) are caught in the middle of the war between Israel and the terrorist groups. It’s just awful what they’ve been through.”
Yet, hope remains. God is working on both sides of the fence. Uncharted partners with believers in Palestine and Israel.
(Photo courtesy of hosny salah/Pixabay)
“There can be true reconciliation. We know of Jews who formerly hated Palestinians that have come to faith in Christ [and] are praying for their brothers and sisters in Gaza. The same thing with the Muslim background believers,” Doyle says.
“Only Jesus can do that; no peace treaty, no foreign power intervention.”
Uncharted exists to connect believers in the West with their Christian brothers and sisters in the Middle East. Learn more here.
“Pray for the new believers in Gaza. All of them have PTSD from being in the war zone. Yet, they are standing strong in their faith, and they know the answer is not politics or war, or any of that,” Doyle says.
“They know true reconciliation first comes with God through Jesus, and then with each other through Christ.”
Pray Palestinians will believe in and trust the Lord. Only He – not the government – can provide the hope they so desperately need. “Hamas raised all the prices in the grocery stores as they’re getting ready for the kids to go to school, showing that they really don’t care about their people,” Doyle says.
“It’s all about the money and the power.”
Header image is a representative stock photo courtesy of Chuttersnap/Unsplash.
