Christian Zionism and the Genocide in Gaza

The hand of Christian Zionism in the genocide in Gaza is now becoming obvious. In the United States, it plays a significant ideological, theological and financial role in enabling and justifying the Israeli state's actions against Palestinians. This support is rooted in a form of public theology that merges colonialism and eschatology, legitimizing Israeli apartheid and violence as part of a “divine” moral project.

Christian Zionism promotes a Manichean worldview where Israel is seen as the fulfillment of biblical prophecy, often connected with dispensationalist beliefs about the end times and the Second Coming of Christ. This creates a moral framework that supports Israel's actions as redemptive and necessary, regardless of their human cost, cruelty and suffering.

Christian Zionism acts as a "moral colonialism," sustaining political agendas that support Israeli colonization and denial of Palestinian existence. It evokes biblical narratives that call for the destruction of Palestinians, likening them to Amalekites, and justifies extreme violence as divinely sanctioned.

As the largest religious voting bloc in the U.S., Christian Zionists wield significant influence on American government support for Israel, embedding their religious motivations into policies that enable ongoing military and financial backing of Israel's campaigns in Gaza.

Christian Zionism displaces the lived reality and history of Palestinians, including Palestinian Christians, by framing the state of Israel as the sole continuation of an imagined “biblical” Israel. This ideological erasure underpins colonial and genocidal violence, making Palestinian suffering invisible or justified in its theology.

Many Palestinian Christian voices reject Christian Zionism, viewing it as a distortion of the Christian message and a form of Christian colonialism that aligns with Western imperialism and racism. They see the ongoing genocidal violence in Gaza as tragically enabled by Western Christian theological legacies closely linked to Christian Zionist ideology.

Then, there is the money. Christian Zionists collectively send significant financial support to Israel, but their contributions represent a smaller fraction compared to overall donations from broader Jewish and Christian communities.

A comprehensive study covering 2008-2016 estimated that evangelical Christian organizations donated between $50 million to $65 million over that entire period, which adjusts to less than $82 million in 2023 dollars.

The International Fellowship of Christians and Jews, a major Christian Zionist donor base of 500,000 people, reportedly raises $100 to $200 million annually and has contributed over $1.5 billion in total to pro-Israel projects since its founding. This group supports diverse efforts such as bringing Jewish immigrants to Israel and aid programs.

Christian Zionist organizations collectively spend tens of millions of dollars each year lobbying for Israel and sending direct aid. Their donor base numbers in the millions, with some groups having membership exceeding the number of American Jews.

For context, total foreign donations to Israeli nonprofits were about $2.8 billion in 2015 (approximately $3-5 billion adjusted upward to present), most of which comes from American Jewish donors, with Christian donations estimated as a smaller subset of that amount.

In recent years, Christian support has increased due to heightened conflict awareness, with fundraising spikes and increased volunteerism for Israel-related causes reported among evangelicals

The latest example of Christian Zionism in action is the euphemistically named entity, the Gaza Humanitarian Foundation (GHF). It is supposed to replace the work of UNRWA, which has long been pilloried as a “terrorist” organization by Christian Zionists and MAGA.
The GHF was established in February 2025, specifically to distribute humanitarian aid during the Gaza humanitarian crisis. It was originally the brainchild of a group of Israeli officials, businessmen, and reservists with close ties to the Israeli government. It was conceived in late 2023 during private meetings among like-minded Israeli military officers, government-linked businessmen, and officials who believed there was a lack of a long-term Gaza strategy. This concept was developed as a new model to distribute humanitarian aid under strict control to prevent diversion by Hamas. The foundation operates with US and Israeli backing but is described as an Israeli initiative at its core.

The current executive chairman is Johnnie Moore, an American Christian Zionist and former advisor to President Trump, who succeeded earlier leadership of GHF after some resignations.

Moore is closely aligned with pro-Israel political and religious activism and has a history of involvement with conservative U.S. administrations, notably serving on Donald Trump’s evangelical advisory council. Moore serves on boards of Jewish-led organizations such as the International Fellowship of Christians and Jews (IFCJ), which promotes Jewish immigration to Israel based on biblical prophecy, a hallmark of Christian Zionism. He has deep ties with organizations that promote Jewish migration to Israel based on “biblical” prophecy, which simply means Israeli settler expansion and the erasure of Palestinian presence.

Specifically, Moore publicly backed former President Trump’s controversial February 2025 proposal that the U.S. should take control over Gaza, aiming to manage its future with a focus on economic development. This proposal was part of the aggressive political agenda that Moore supports. In other words, he knows how to weaponize humanitarian aid, to ensure that Israel wins all the time.

The modus operandi of the GHF is simple—just do what Israel wants when it comes to aid distribution in Gaza. And the results have been grim so far. Here is a brief talky of the devastation wrought by the GHF.

May 27-28, 2025, Rafah Incident: On the first day of the GHF's aid distribution in Tel al-Sultan, Rafah, thousands of Palestinians gathered, leading to chaotic conditions as crowds rushed for food aid. Israeli tanks reportedly opened fire on the crowd, killing at least 10 Palestinians and injuring over 60, according to the Gaza Government Media Office. The IDF denied firing at Palestinians, stating that only warning shots were fired outside the area, but UN spokespersons and eyewitnesses countered these claims, noting most injuries were from gunfire. Videos showed panicked crowds fleeing amid gunfire and military flares.

June 1, 2025, Rafah "Witkoff Massacre": On June 1, at least 32 civilians were killed and over 250 wounded near the Rafah aid center. Palestinian hospitals and red crescent paramedics reported dozens of dead and wounded brought from the site. The IDF and GHF denied responsibility, claiming reports were false or fabricated by Hamas. However, witness testimonies, hospital reports, and analyses by medical organizations and media outlets such as CNN indicated these were likely Israeli military actions against civilians gathered for aid. The incident was dubbed the "Witkoff massacre" after the U.S. envoy who supported the aid distribution plan.

Ongoing Killings and Attacks at Aid Sites: From late May through June and July 2025, repeated deadly shootings, drone strikes, and other attacks by the IDF and GHF security contractors targeted Palestinians seeking food aid at distribution sites. On some days, more than a dozen civilians were killed in a single incident. The Gaza Health Ministry and UN OHCHR documented hundreds of deaths, with many injured. International organizations reported these aid distribution sites as overcrowded, militarized "death traps," where Palestinians face lethal force while trying to obtain food.

Human rights groups like the Center for Constitutional Rights and Amnesty International accused GHF of complicity in war crimes and genocide by operating under heavy Israeli military control and exposing Palestinians to deadly attacks. UN agencies, major international NGOs, and over 170 charities condemned GHF for violating humanitarian principles by creating militarized aid zones. GHF and Israeli officials deny deliberate targeting of civilians, claiming they fire only warning shots at suspected threats. However, eyewitness accounts, independent investigations, and human rights reports contradict these denials and emphasize the lethal consequences of the militarized aid system.

Then, on July 30, 2025, Israeli troops reportedly killed at least 30 Palestinians waiting to collect humanitarian aid in northern Gaza, continuing the pattern of deadly attacks near GHF distribution sites.

These incidents reflect a pattern of heavy Israeli military force and GHF-backed security measures causing numerous Palestinian civilian deaths and injuries at aid distribution centers. The crisis is marked by conflicting narratives: Palestinian and independent reports depict lethal militarization and human rights abuses, while Israeli and GHF sources deny responsibility or attribute violence to Hamas or chaotic conditions.

Moore has defended Israeli Defense Forces' (IDF) actions and denied violations of international law despite reports of hundreds of Palestinian deaths at or near GHF aid sites, often attributed to Israeli forces. He dismisses these reports as propaganda and insists on the importance of aid delivery, though the GHF’s approach has been described as militarized and unsafe by independent observers and humanitarian organizations.

But major humanitarian bodies like the United Nations and over 170 NGOs (including Save the Children and Oxfam) refuse to cooperate with GHF, accusing it of politicizing aid and violating humanitarian norms. They claim GHF's operations force Palestinians into overcrowded, militarized zones and subject aid-seekers to daily violence. As noted, numerous killings and injuries have been recorded near GHF distribution sites, with Palestinian health authorities linking most of the aid-related deaths to these sites.

The attacks have been attributed not only to Israeli forces—but also to GHF staff members who have shot civilians.

Not surprisingly, Gazans are now afraid to come for aid because of the GHF.

Many Palestinians fear being shot while trying to access aid, since it has been made obvious to them that the aid brought by GHF serves Israeli military interests.

Additionally, Palestinians rightly distrust the GHF, viewing it as a politicized entity rather than a neutral humanitarian organization. The combination of lethal risks near distribution points, restricted number and location of sites, and political tensions has caused widespread fear and reluctance among Gazans to seek aid through GHF.

Here are some reasons why Gazans are afraid of GHF:

• GHF sites are situated in narrow, militarized corridors, leaving aid-seekers exposed to military action.

• Israeli forces routinely fire on crowds waiting for aid, killing some 700 or more Palestinians near GHF points (as noted).

• Hamas and other local groups warn Palestinians not to approach GHF centers, citing mistrust and security concerns.

• GHF is closely aligned with Israeli military interests, leading to accusations that aid delivery has been weaponized.

• The UN and many established humanitarian agencies refuse to collaborate with GHF, raising further doubts about the organization's neutrality and effectiveness.

• Aid distribution hours and methods are unpredictable, making access difficult and dangerous.

Thus, Gazans face the impossible choice of risking their lives at limited and dangerous aid points or suffering extreme hunger and deprivation at home.

Such is the “help” that Christian Zionists bring to the people of Gaza, because for such zealots nothing can come between their loyalty to Israel, for in their immoral worldview, Israel can never sin, and their piety is to serve Israel—even to the point of murder. it may well be liable for aiding Irsael in its massive war crimes.

Therefore, the task ahead for the West and most of all for the United States is figuring out how to de-Zionize itself, for Zionism is a pernicious, murderous ideology, which does not have a political solution. It will require the long arduous work of eradicating an ideology whose followers hold immense power.

In other words, the two-state solution now being touted will only mean that Zionism will be handed even greater power, because it will set the stage for future conflicts. Is that a fitting reward for carrying out a genocide?