Israel’s Forced Displacement of Palestinians in Gaza “Humanitarian Zone” Threatens Collapse of Aid Response
Refugees International is deeply alarmed about new mandatory evacuation orders issued by Israeli authorities.
August 24, 2024
Jesse Marks is the senior advocate for the Middle East at Refugees International. He is a policy practitioner and humanitarian researcher with extensive experience in humanitarian response, foreign policy, and multilateral perspectives on aid. He has spent over five years in the United States, Middle East, Europe, and Asia, researching, advocating, and reporting on humanitarian crises, particularly on improving access to victims of conflict in hard-to-reach areas and working with multiple stakeholders to prevent refugee refoulement.
Most recently, Jesse served as a non-resident fellow at the Stimson Center’s China Program, where he researched China’s mediation and response to humanitarian crises in the Middle East. Before that, he was a Middle East policy advisor and inaugural McCain Fellow in the U.S. Government, focusing on the Levant region, including Syria, Jordan, and Lebanon. Previously, he was a Fulbright Fellow at the Jordan Center for Strategic Studies, where he offered advice to U.S. and foreign embassies in Jordan on managing complex humanitarian responses to Middle East conflicts. He was also a Scoville Fellow at the Stimson Center’s Protecting Civilians in Conflict Program, where he worked with U.S. policymakers on developing effective measures to protect internally displaced Syrians. Additionally, he worked for the Executive Office of UNHCR Jordan, where he collaborated with senior UN officials to expand humanitarian access in Syria and prevent forced return.
Jesse has published widely, including in Foreign Affairs and the Washington Post, and with a variety of think tanks such as the Stimson Center, Middle East Institute, and New Lines Institute. He holds an MPhil in International Relations and Politics from the University of Cambridge, with a focus on the political dynamics of humanitarianism in the Syrian War; a master’s degree in Global Affairs with a focus on China studies from Tsinghua University in Beijing; and a bachelor’s degree in Middle East Studies and Arabic from Florida State University.
Refugees International is deeply alarmed about new mandatory evacuation orders issued by Israeli authorities.
August 24, 2024
Aid agencies must be able to safely and securely implement a comprehensive mass vaccination campaign to save lives in Gaza.
July 24, 2024
Lebanon should immediately halt forced deportations of Syrian refugees and reverse a set of unprecedented and draconian measures that were announced on 8 May 2024.
May 16, 2024
The ongoing operation has pushed hundreds of thousands to flee and further exacerbated a dire hunger crisis in Gaza.
May 14, 2024
Lebanon’s proposed plan would without a doubt result in the forced deportation of Syrian refugees.
April 10, 2024
Refugees International calls on the Turkish government—both at the national and local levels—to respect the legal status of Syrian refugees residing in their territory and all cease raids, detention, and...
April 1, 2024
Jesse Marks joined Time Radio (UK)'s Ayesha Hazarika to discuss the challenges of maritime corridors of aid to Gaza and the urgency of getting aid into the region and deescalating...
March 9, 2024
Jesse Marks joined Aljazeera English to discuss Israel's consistent obstruction of aid and the urgency of opening up more border crossings to facilitate aid into the strip.
March 7, 2024
In roughly four months, Gaza has become a hell on earth. These testimonials from Palestinians in Gaza paint a portrait of life under siege—and a humanitarian response under attack.
February 16, 2024
Palestinians in Gaza who have fled to Egypt find themselves stranded. Prioritizing solutions now will be critical to avert a worse crisis.
February 15, 2024