The ongoing war in Gaza has resulted in a devastating loss of life, with at least 44,000 Palestinians killed, according to the United Nations Office for the Coordination of Humanitarian Affairs. The humanitarian affairs agency also reports that more than 100,000 people have been injured, and an estimated 1.9 million — nearly the entire population of 2.1 million — have been forcibly displaced.
Many aid organizations have shifted their programming priorities and scaled up the delivery of services on the ground. However, staffing these operations has proven challenging.
Chessa Latifi, an emergency coordinator at Project HOPE, explained that initially, the global health and humanitarian organization was looking for experts “regardless of where they were from.” However, regulations put in place by Israel have severely limited its candidate pool by excluding those with certain passports or backgrounds.