GAZA CITY, Gaza Strip — In one of the rooms of the Goethe Institute in Gaza City, 13 students attend a German-language class. Five of them are doctors seeking to study and work in Germany due to the tough economic and political situation in Gaza, which has been under Hamas control for eight years.
According to figures published by several sources, some doctors employed in Gaza are looking for work in German hospitals. Germany has been offering extensive incentives for doctors from outside the European Union for years.
Afaf al-Saafin, a student at the Goethe Institute who works in the emergency department at Al-Shifa Hospital in Gaza City, said that she is studying German because it is a requirement to know the language to apply for a job in the medical field in Germany.
“I heard about this from friends who moved to Germany recently. They told me they managed to settle there and find work at good German hospitals, which encouraged me to consider this opportunity. So I quickly enrolled in a German-language program. I have reached level two, which qualifies me to [apply for positions] at [German] hospitals once I finish,” she said.
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