With More Bombing And Less Aid, Gaza’s Humanitarians Are Feeling The Squeeze

Many Palestinian aid workers are facing an uphill battle trying to coordinate humanitarian assistance in Gaza while keeping their families safe.

Samah Kassab has been working as a humanitarian for almost six years, living in Gaza City with her two teenagers while providing sanitary products and fresh food for the Palestinian women and girls in her community. Partnering with local aid groups, she would also make sure women and children in Gaza have access to psychosocial support. It was fulfilling work.

But after Israel invaded Gaza nearly eight months ago, the world changed for Kassab and other Palestinian aid workers trying to continue their once-fulfilling work while keeping their families alive.

Kassab and her family have been displaced six times since Israel launched its devastating military offensive in response to Hamas’ deadly attack on Oct. 7. After feeling the terror that came with watching her mother slip into a diabetic coma while living in a tent, it became Kassab who needed the psychosocial support.

Kassab left for Egypt in February with her two children, leaving behind the rest of her family in Gaza so that her 16-year-old daughter and 14-year-old son’s safety came first. All three of them now receive counseling for the mental trauma they continue to endure.

“For my children, I was feeling helpless when I couldn’t prevent my son or daughter from being afraid during the bombing at night. Nor could I prevent the planes, the air warplanes, from doing so,” she told HuffPost in an interview. “It was very difficult for me as a mother when I couldn’t bring the food and protection that they needed. Nor could I keep them warm enough at night.”